What if one day the city or county where you live decides to make it illegal for residents to own a particular breed of dog? How would that make you feel?
Worse yet, what if you own that particular breed of dog? What would you do?
You might think that in the United States of America, a country built on life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, it isn’t possible for someone to tell you what kind of dog you can own, but you’d be wrong. It’s very possible and in fact, it’s already happening in cities all over the country.
Breed Specific Legislation, or BSL, means that a city, town, or county can create laws that ban certain dog breeds. It doesn’t matter if you’re a responsible dog owner. It doesn’t matter if yours is the perfect dog who’s always well-behaved and has never caused a problem.
If you live in an area that decides to implement BSL, you’ve got 2 choices: move or get rid of your dog. Otherwise, you’re breaking the law and your dog could be seized, impounded, and destroyed.
Yikes. That doesn’t sound like The Land of The Free to me.
Take a look at the infographic below, and then let’s chat some more about BSL and why it doesn’t work.
We know that BSL doesn’t work when we look at the results. Take the city of Denver, Colorado, for example. In 1989, Denver enacted a Pit Bull ban with a goal of making the county safer for its residents. That’s an honorable mission, but apparently something went wrong, because it doesn’t appear to be working.
From 1995 to 2006, Denver recorded more dog bite hospitalizations than other counties in Colorado without Pit Bull bans. Oops, how did that happen?
Even with its Pit Bull ban in place for nearly 20 years, you can see from the graph below that Denver County still records a greater number of dog bites than surrounding areas that do not practice breed discrimination. Take a look.
And interestingly enough, of all the dog bites reported in Denver from 2003 to 2008, breeds other than Pit Bulls made up the majority of the injuries.
Clearly, getting rid of Pit Bulls in Denver County hasn’t solved anything. It hasn’t made the city safer, but it has destroyed many families and broken many hearts.
As of 2014, it’s estimated that 3,500+ Pit Bulls have been put to death as a result of the Denver Pit Bull ban, and yet the area is still reporting a larger number of dog bites than any of the surrounding areas.
Numbers don’t lie, and statistics like these prove that banning dog breeds doesn’t solve the problem. So what does?
Responsible dog ownership.
Only by being a responsible dog owner can we show the world that our dogs are not to be feared. Only by being a responsible dog owner can we debunk the myth that only thugs and dog fighters own Pit Bulls. It is imperative that we:
- Properly vet our dogs – keep them up-to-date on immunizations and make sure they’ve been spayed or neutered. An altered dog is far less likely to attack than an intact dog.
- Properly socialize our dogs – our dogs must be trained to behave properly when at home and in public. You’re doing a disservice to your pet if you fail to socialize and train it.
- Leash your dog when you’re off your own property – avoid mishaps with other animals and people by keeping your dog properly restrained. No exceptions.
- Do not leave your dog on a chain in the yard – lonely, unsocialized, neglected yard dogs are much more likely to defend their territory and attack than dogs that are treated as beloved family pets.
- Know your local animal control laws and abide by them.
Can you think of other ways we can fight BSL?
I’d love for you to leave a comment below, or join the conversation over on our Facebook page!
The ban on Pit Bulls in Denver, CO is actually in its 26th year.
What separates Denver and Miami when it comes to combating BSL is their “Home Rule Authority which makes it impossible to use the “constitutionality” argument.
Home Rule grants a city their own constitutional law (ethical or not) and only the federal government can trump Home Rule.
As for the history of Denver’s ban starting in 1989… the ban was originally instated as a cover-up to the city’s own negligence in enforcing a dangerous dog law and a little boy lost his life due to the failure. The ban went virtually unchallenged until Colorado Legislator Debbie Stafford took and anti-BSL bill to the capitol. The bill passed and went into law in 2004… thus Denver’s ban was hung for one year until Denver invoked its Home Rule Authority and went up against the state and won in 2005.
Since 2005, the city of Denver’s motive behind the ban is PURELY EGOTISTICAL (they have no animal welfare endorsement, they have no UN-TAMPERED WITH dog bite statistics that justify their ban, and in 2009 decided to extend their ban into the Service Dog realm… confiscating 3 service dogs and ending up settling out of court). More so, the ban is a political tool (ie don’t confiscate problematic Pit Bulls in ethnic neighborhoods so as to retain the ethnic vote).
And a little fun fact:
Most are under the assumption that Dogsbite.org is is run strictly by Colleen Lynn, when in fact… the brains (term used LOOSELY) behind the outfit is actually Kory Nelson… Denver Asst City Attorney who manipulated the city’s Home Rule Authority to reinstate the ban in 2005.
Thanks for the feedback! I appreciate the information. I’m clicking over to have a look at your website now!
Oh, P.S. I can see why you might have been confused by my statement “Even with its Pit Bull ban in place for nearly 20 years…” I was actually referring to the stats contained in the graph, which were from 2005-2008. According to that graph, even when the ban had been in effect for almost 20 years, there was still clearly a dog bite problem in Denver.
I absolutely love the statistics – it’s something that people need to see. It’s so easy to make assumptions on what you’ve been told alone, rather than looking at the data. It saddens me very much to know that the town next to us has an active ban and it doesn’t look like it’s going to be lifted any time soon. Other than education I don’t have any ideas to add to your list since you’ve done a thorough job. Extra exposure of great breed ambassadors always helps – I love that they’re using Pitbulls as service dogs – hopefully it will change peoples perceptions.
I so agree, Jen! It’s so important that we’re good masters of our dogs, and that we use every opportunity to set a good example. It will take many years to eradicate the myths and prejudice, but I do believe it can be done.
It’s really sad that BSL even exists. I think it’s important that pit bull advocates who are well educated on the facts and problems with BSL get involved – if you see BSL in your city, county, state or even HOA proposed, show up and speak out against it. Sharing!
Thank you for sharing this information with us. As a mom of two pitbulls, I’m afraid our city (Houston) may enforce this on us someday. They have mentioned it in the news. If they do then we are definitely moving because there’s no way I’m giving up my babies. 🙂
Going to pass this on, definitely need to spread the word about this. Hope you’re having a great week.