Did you know that there is actually a group called "Families and Dogs Against Fighting Breeds"? Yeah, it's in Seattle and these good family people are working together to try to ban so-called "pit bulls" or the bull terrier breeds, or at least require their mandatory sterilization. You can read more about the group at DoggieNews.com and in an article in the Seattle Times.

So, this woman started this nice family values group and wants to exterminate "pit bulls."

As the blogger on DoggieNews.com says:

Are we looking at another Denver, another Windsor, another fascist state where hundreds of well-tempered dogs are ripped from their homes and put down like Jews in a concentration camp, just because a few dog owners weren't acting responsibly?

Like I've said countless times here, we already have laws and remedies against irresponsible dog owners, the problem is that local governments don't want to go after the bad apples. It costs money. They'd rather take the easy road by burdening everyone.

The irony of that approach is that only the law-abiding citizen abide by laws. The irresponsible citizens, who don't abide by laws, are the problem.

How will another law address the people who don't abide by laws?

Exactly. I read a newspaper article recently from a good heartland newspaper, the West Central Tribune, in Fargo, North Dakota, that said that in their area most dog bites came from mixed-breed dogs, followed by Labrador Retrievers. The police chief very sensibly noted that this might possibly be because there were more of those dogs than any others! Wow. Somebody with some brains.

Mixed-breed dogs involved in most ‘bite’ cases here
By Tom Cherveny, West Central Tribune
Published Saturday, February 16, 2008

WILLMAR — In each of the last two years, Willmar police officers investigated 15 incidents involving people bitten by dogs in which the wound was severe enough to puncture the skin.

A review of records for the last three years fails to show a breed of dog that stands out as the major problem however, said Police Chief Jim Kulset.

The chief reviewed the last three years of records on dog bite cases and found that most of the bites had been inflicted by mixed-breed dogs. That’s probably because the largest number of dogs in the city are mixed breeds, he noted.

After mixed breeds, the breed of dog involved in the most bite cases was Labrador retrievers. Pit bull and Rottweiler breeds were also involved in some of the bite cases, he said…

The chief said that from his experience, most of the animal complaint cases in the city have more to do with how the animals are trained and treated by their owners than with the breed of the dog. “Ownership is everything,’’ he said.

The chief said it would be difficult for officers to enforce a law banning certain breeds of dogs. What about mixed dogs with parentage from one of the banned breeds?

The chief’s observations on the issue in Willmar match what Dr. Petra Mertens, an animal behavior veterinarian formerly with the University of Minnesota, sees in her Twin Cities clinic.

…Mertens said that a dog’s overall behavior reflects the training and handling it receives as well. Owners with breeds of dogs known to be aggressive can effectively manage them. And, they can anticipate situations where the dog could be pushed to a threshold that triggers its instinctive behavior.

She pointed out that localities in Germany once banned certain so-called “dangerous’’ dog breeds but discovered that the number of dog bite cases did not vary.

Mertens said high-profile dog bite cases involving these breeds often attract media attention and calls for legislation. In Europe, a more effective approach has been to require the owners of breeds considered dangerous to undertake training in their care and management.

While Willmar sees its share of dog bite cases, Kulset said far more police time is devoted to responding to complaints about barking dogs or dogs running at large. Last year the police received more than 1,000 animal complaints.

Breed Specific Legislation, which is what the group "Families And Dogs Against Fighting Breeds" is seeking in order to ban or sterilize all bull terrier breeds, is the same thing as racism and discrimination against people based on their skin color or ethnic background. It condemns dogs as a group instead of treating them as individuals. It takes no account of how a dog is raised or who owns it and how the dog is treated.

There is no reason to exterminate these dogs or require their sterilization. It is beyond cruel to try to practice the equivalent of genocide on a breed or type of dog. Only the sickest kind of people would aim to wipe out these dogs as this group is doing. Many thousands of responsible dog owners own these loving, sweet dogs across the country — the same dogs which have been rehabilitated from Michael Vick's dog fighting kennel. Would you have animal control rip them out of their owners' arms to kill them in Seattle or anywhere else? What about when someone says, "Hey, I hear Labradors are dangerous. Maybe we should ban them?"

Refuse to support Breed Specific Legislation anywhere. Refuse to ban dogs, exterminate dogs, or force sterilization. Your dog could be next.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 18th, 2008 at 3:40 am and is filed under For Our Dogs' Sake. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.