Do you think banning certain breeds of dogs should be allowed? Some cities are trying to enact legislation that prohibits certain breeds of dogs, such as pit bulls and dobermans. Animal rights activists are saying that "bad dogs" are the result of bad owners, and banning the dogs isn't the solution. However, those whose kids have been mauled by pit bulls or other aggressive dogs say this legislation is necessary to protect individuals from attack.
Marian
I don't think banning a breed is the answer. For example: top #1 dog to maul kids in the USA is NOT the pitbull, it's the Cocker Spaniel, with German Shepherds being #2, Rotwillers #3 and pitbulls not even in the top 5! Dalmatians and Poodles are considered to be far more dangerous than pitbulls.
It's also a proven fact that dogs who's tails have been docked (regardless of breed) are 80% more likely to attack a person, than the same breed with it's tail still attatched.
The reason you hear more about pitbulls attacking people is because in the 1980's a pack of WILD (stray dogs born in the wild and never raised by humans) dogs, consisting of 3 pitbulls attacked and killed a small child. It got all over the news and people panicked and pitbulls have had a baby killing reputation ever since. But people never took into consideration that the dogs in question WERE NOT PETS and HAD NEVER been pets: they had been born to a stray mother and raised in the wild, so acted like wolves instead of domestic dogs!
Ever since that baby was killed by those wild dogs, every time a dog bites some one people run off screaming pit bull no matter what the breed is.
Why do pitbulls attack? Usually because their owner commanded them too. Yeah. Think about it. A dog will obey it's owner. Pitbulls are considered to be one of the single MOST INTELLIGENT dog breeds there is and are therefor very easy to train to do ANYTHING. Because they are so easy to train and because of the size of them, they are often trained as "attack dogs" - their owners specifically take the dogs to schools which train the dogs to attack intruders.
The most common breeds to be enrolled in these schools are: pitbulls, rotweilers, dobermans, and german shepherds. And people wonder why these are than the breeds that attack people? Duh!
The problem is once you train a dog to attack people it is hard to control it and tell it who it should or should not attack. There is a very good reason why attack dogs are kept behind chain link fences and often even their own owners can not get near them.
People send their dogs to attack dog training schools and expect to than walk around like a big shot going "look at me I'm better than you because I got my own attack dog". They are foolish idiots who think they can train a dog to kill and than walk it down main street with people.
The real problem comes when these irrisponcable twerps suddenly realize they can't handle the dog so they do one of three things: they take it to a shelter or they chain it up in the yard and never speak to it again or they just let it go.
The dog that goes to the shelter than goes home with some unsuspecting family who has no idea they just adopted a trained killer and while it may be good with them, it attacks every neighbor in sight.
The dog chained in the yard, separated from his "pack" (people) becomes more and more aggressive and angry until it simply hates every one.
The dog set free reverts to wolf instincts and hunts to kill.
And this is true of ANY breed of dog.
In short, cruel, evil, uncaring people create cruel, evil, uncaring dogs.
I have seen good pitbulls and bad pitbulls. I look at the owners and I see the dog is only doing the same thing it sees it's owner doing. Calm laid back people have calm laid back pitbulls. Nervous people have nervous pitbulls. People who snap and growl at your every move have pitbulls that snap and growl.
This is because your dog looks to you as his pack leader and if you are relaxed and friendly you dog sees that and thinks these people are not a threat I can relax because it's okay. But if your dog sees you getting upset and agitated and freaking out, your dog is going to think - something is wrong I have to defend the pack leader. When the dog attacks, he attacks on your cue wither you told him to attack or not - he picked up on your anxiety and attacked whatever it was he thought was causing your freakout. And this is true of all breeds. The more loyal the breed the more likely it'll attack people, thus why pitbulls attack: because they are one of the most loyal breeds of all.
If you don't like how your dog is acting: you better take a good long hard look in the mirror. Don't change the dog: change yourself and the dog will follow your example.
Additionally: dogs that have been spayed/neutered are less likely to attack at all, with nearly ever attack on record being by either a female dog in heat or a male dog in sight of a female dog in heat. It is a proven fact that having your dog fixed will put an end to most of it's aggression. There is a reason why trained attack dogs are never spayed or neutered, after all. Again this is a problem with ALL breeds.
In the end, banning a breed is not the answer, because it is not a problem restricted to any one breed. The problem is multi fold and always goes back to the owner. In every case of a dog biting, mauling, or killing a person you see 3 things: unfixed, trained to attack, and left chained outside. All three of those things are the fault of the owner.
The best solution to the problem is to put laws in place that promote better dog ownership. For example:
- Dogs should be required to be spayed/neutered BEFORE a person can buy it.
- Buyers should be required to take and pass a dog ownership training course BEFORE being allowed to buy a dog - not a day test, but an actual 3 month long daily college course - with hands on training with real dogs.
- Schools which train attack dogs should be shut down and banned as terrorist operations.
- There need to be laws limiting the amount of time a dog is spent chained outside. (Chained in the yard when the family is outside doing yard work or playing, is one thing - being chained up outside 8 or 10 hours when the family is gone to work/school and all night as well is another thing entirely!)
- Dog ownership laws should be like gun ownership laws: requiring a background check, drug testing, registration, permits, and licenses.
- In places where these laws are already in effect, they need to be enforced. (Many towns already have these laws but don't enforce them.)
If those laws were in every town and being enforced, it would go a long way to putting a stop to many of the dog attacks.
Get rid of problem dog owners and you'll get rid of problem dogs.
ETA:
I own an animal rescue by the way. I work with animals considered "too far gone" to ever be a family house pet - including elderly, sick, and highly aggressive animals. I am a last chance for these animals whom are often brought to me by police because no other shelter would take them. I work with the most extreme of extreme cases. In over 25 years of running this rescue I have never once seen an animal brought in, that was not turned bad by a bad owner. And in over 500 animals I have yet to seen a "bad" dog - every dog I've ever had, turned into a good, kind, loving, gentle dog with just a few short months of loving care.
