What Is BSL?
Breed Specific Legislation

BSL is a group of laws that ban particular breeds, usually Pit Bulls (a type of dog not a breed) as well as Rottweilers, German Shepherds, Akitas, Dobermans, Chow Chows, and a few others. These laws are usually passed after several attacks by a particular breed so that the city councils can assure citizens they are doing something about a voter concern. One thing to remember is that laws are made for humans not for animals who have no say about the environment in which they are raised and must live in.

The ugly truth to BSL is that law abiding and responsible owners, whose dogs love people and have never done anything wrong, have had their homes invaded, often without warrants, and their pets dragged away (in front of their children) to be killed. Not because the dog was unstable or mean, but because of its breed. Meanwhile, the owners of the truly dangerous dogs escape punishment because their breed is not targeted by BSL.

BSL is nothing more then breed profiling and as of yet has not worked to curb the amount of serious dog attacks it was put in place to stop. The only thing that it has in fact done is make life hell for the ordinary law abiding dog lover.

Why BSL will not work
The prime reason BSL will never work is for the plain and simple fact that the target is of based. Meaning BSL targets the dog not the irresponsible owner of the animal. Dogs are not the problem and BSL will not recognize this. People are the problem and until we find a way to punish people for their neglectful actions which allow dogs to bite and menace the public we will never stop the problem. Banning Pit Bulls would be like banning cars because people get killed in car accidents, which is responsible the car or the driver. Cars can be dangerous when put in the wrong hands or when they are built defective. This is the same with dogs, any dog as a matter of fact. Pit Bulls are no more responsible for they way they are bred, raised, and trained than cars are responsible for they way they are designed, built, and driven.

We as responsible owners are not the type of people to complain about a problem and not propose a solution to remedy the situation at hand. As BSL targets the dog we say target the owner/breeder. Until irresponsible owners have very harsh punishments placed on them we will never see an end to this all. There are many solutions out there that could be imposed or discussed. However, politicians and BSL supporters would rather see our beloved animals taken from our law abiding homes and destroyed because of a few bad apples out there.

Fighting against BSL
BSL is on the rise, and in the United States the American Pit Bull Terrier is the number one target for such laws. The American Pit Bull Terrier is actually the number one restricted breed in the world, meaning that if your dog is even suspected of having APBT blood it can fall under BSL laws. BSL can be compared to gender or racial profiling because a dog appears to be a dog on the restricted list it is treated as one.

The term “Pit Bull” is not even a breed. There is no registry out there that registers a “Pit Bull”. The United Kennel Club (UKC) and the American Dog Breeders Association (ADBA) register the American Pit Bull Terrier. However, when the media, politicians, or BSL supporters attack our dogs they refer to “Pit Bulls” as a number of breed types. Those that commonly fall under the term or nick name “Pit Bull” are American Pit Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Bull Terriers, and American Bulldogs just to name a few the list tops over 20 different breeds. Mixes with percentages of blood of any one of these breeds and dogs that simply look like these breeds are often categorized as a “Pit Bull”. The problem that we have is that when BSL supporters reference bite statistics they more often then not give statistics on bites from “Pit Bulls” and compare them to bites from one specific breed, how is this fair to say the least. Well here is a little mud in your eye. Even as they compare the bite statistics unfairly we find that the “Pit Bull” still does not top the list of dog attacks in the U.S. Experts of most of these breeds listed above often have a difficult time distinguishing apart the different breeds. Here is the problem, breed identification is left up to the victim and witness testimony, and is often wrong. Due to negative press, biting dogs of almost ANY breed have been called “Pit Bulls”. Try this game out and see how many people you know can actually pick out the American Pit Bull Terrier from the pictures. Let alone pick one out with the trauma of an attack.

To sum it up BSL has nothing to offer the public but confusion and loss. BSL will never be a practical solution of regulating vicious dogs and severe attacks. Until the law makers see this fact of life we will be faced with more BSL laws.