Orlando Sentinel spewing Breedism and Pit Bull Hate!

Call to Action – Orlando Sentinel spewing Breedism and Pit Bull Hate!

Posted on June 14, 2011by BSL News

 By Sloane Quealy-Miner

I am a dog like any other. Fight for my rights, I am depending on you!

The Orlando Sentinel recently came out in favor of BSL, questioning how legislators could have passed a law shielding pit bulls and other specific breeds from regulation more than two decades ago.  While the legislators may not be available to answer our community is. So let us all take a few moments to do just that.

ACTION NEEDED: Contact the Orlando Sentinel IMMEDIATELY and tell them why you do NOT support breed bans or any piece of breed specific legislation! Tell them to stop spewing breedism and hate and urge them to stand behind “dangerous dog” laws that rightly target irresponsible owners and not an entire breed of dog.

Letters to the editor may be sent via this online form: www.orlandosentinel.com/letters 
or directly email at insight@orlandosentinel.com

See our Talking Points on BSL and educate the Orlando Sentinel on why BSL does not work.

Below is my letter to the editor
 To whom it may concern: 
Your comments and assumptions regarding pit bulls and their propensity to be aggressive are disgraceful. Also, the statistics you quote are wrong. What are your sources?

Stories that cause people to seek out breed specific legislations are tragic BUT they involve individual dogs and are not representative of the countless other “pit bull” type dogs that are friendly and well socialized. You would like all dogs that fall under the term “pit bull” to be punished for the actions of a few. This is ludicrous!

The problem of dangerous dogs is not remedied by the quick fix of breed-discriminatory laws. You are clearly too daft to realize that aggression is not a breed issue, it is a dog issue. Any dog can be “trained” to behave aggressively. BSL provides the public with a false sense of security. ALL DOGS CAN BITE. BSL does not work, as it target is misplaced to the dog and not the owner. Numerous jurisdictions have repealed breed specific legislation in favor of dangerous dog laws. Also, numerous jurisdictions did not see any decline in dog bites when they did ban pit bull type dogs.

Studies of pre and post breed ban dog bite rates in the United Kingdom and Spain concluded that their pit bull breed ban had no affect whatsoever on reducing dog bites. Indeed, Hiawatha, Iowa repealed their pit bull terrier ban because of identification problems and expense. Now that DNA testing is available to determine the breed of a dog, breed discriminatory laws have gotten very expensive for cities and counties to enforce. Topeka, Kansas also recently repealed their pit bull terrier ban for the same reasons.

Denver, Colorado banned pit bulls in 1989. In the years following the ban, the city continues to suffer a higher rate of hospitalization for severe dog bite injury than the breed neutral jurisdictions in the state. The Denver incidents ALL involved dogs identified as other than pit bulls.

In Spain, a study of dog bite reports from five years before breed specific regulation was enacted and five years after, revealed that there had been no reduction in dog bites. The Netherlands maintained a breed ban for 15 years, but has since repealed it, in favor of owner responsibility laws.

In its study of human fatalities resulting from dog bites, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) did not support the breed specific approach. The CDC noted many other factors beyond a dogs breed may affect a dog’s tendency toward aggression – such as reproductive status, heredity, sex, early experience, and socialization and training. These concerns seem well-founded given that more than 70% of all dog bite cases involve unsterilized male dogs, and an unneutered male dog is 2.6 times more likely to bite than a neutered male dog. In 2006, 97% of all dog related human fatalities in the United States involved unsterilized canines.

Breed bans cause shelters to fill up with unadoptable dogs. No room for dangerous dogs of other breeds. Criminals ignore breed bans along with other laws. Other dangerous dogs continue to threaten community. An increased number of competent animal control officers need to be mobilized to investigate abuse and or neglect, and other complaints so attacks by any dog can be avoided. Programs such as mandatory education classes on good ownership and obedience training need to be in place if a dog is declared dangerous or has been reported running loose/menacing an excessive amount of times. If people are convicted of abuse/neglect they need to be ordered not have any other animals. If a dog is found to be “dangerous” the dog should be spayed or neutered, micro chipped for positive identification and muzzled when out in public. Outlaw the tethering/chaining of dogs as 25% of all fatal dog attacks involve tethered or chained dogs.

Breedism is the canine equivalent to racism and it is mentalities like the author of this article that are responsible for the deaths of so many loving, gentle and beautiful animals. Innocent dogs suffer and die in shelters every day because not only do breed specific policies/legislation give false verification to the public that pit bull type dogs are vicious but it effects the ability of people in the communities to adopt these animals, as well as rescues/ shelters to adopt out these animals.

A study by the National Canine Resource Council  looked at media coverage of dog attacks during four days in 2007. Three attacks by mixed breed dogs, including one fatal attack, generated one or two articles each. But a similar, non-fatal attack by two pit bulls generated 230 articles.

Stories regarding pit bull attacks are blasted all over the news but it is stories like thesethat people never hear about. They are just a few of the many cases where pit bulls have performed heroic acts.

PUNSIH THE DEED, NOT THE BREED!