Breed Specific Legislation & American Dog Owner Rights

Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) is a big problem for dogs and dog owners, as well as for all citizens of the areas with these laws. BSL is when lawmakers enact laws or statutes that severely restrict or even prohibit pet owners from owning certain breeds of dog. Most often, the "pit bull" is the victim of BSL. Other breeds often targeted are often large breed dogs and include Rottweilers, Chow Chows, Dobermans, German Shepherds, Staffordshire Terriers, and Malamutes.

Proponents in favor of bsl state that restricting or outlawing certain breeds of dog will help to decrease dog bites and attacks. This, however, is far from the truth. Once a certain breed is outlawed in an area, another breed will take its place. Once that happens, the lawmakers will move to get that breed outlawed. If that continues, eventually, all dogs would be outlawed. The targeted breed changes generally once every 10 to 20 years. In the 1970's, Dobermans were the targeted breed. Then, in the 1990's, Rottweilers were the "bad breed"? Now, society has moved on to "pit bulls". Now the problem with that is there is no such breed as a pit bull. This general term encompasses three separate breeds, the Staffordshire Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, and American Pit Bull Terrier (APBT).

When BSL is enacted, society can lose some wonderful animals. Think about some of the service dogs in your area. The majority of service dogs are large breed dogs. Police forces use some of the targeted breeds for "drug dogs" and "bomb dogs". Therapy dogs are usually large breed dogs, as are search and rescue dogs. For instance, Helen Keller owned an APBT. Communities could also lose some wonderful icons. Petey on The Little Rascals was an APBT. The United States military used an APBT in it ads in the early 1900's. The only breed of dog to be on the cover of Life Magazine 3 times was the APBT.