Pit Bulls and a Bad Law in Ontario

Some time ago, I forget the exact date, our wise and esteemed Attorney General passed a law outlawing pit bulls. Many people think this is a good thing as fewer children will have their faces ripped off by these vicious dogs. Pit bulls must be leashed, muzzled and neutered. Eventually, the thinking goes, they will die out and we won't have problems with them anymore. 

The trouble is, no one seems to know just what a pit bull is. It certainly is not a breed recognized by either the Canadian or American Kennel Clubs. There are American pit bull terriers, mastiffs, Staffordshire bull terriers, etc., etc., etc. When confronted with pictures of various dog breeds and asked to pick out the pit bull, Mr. Bryant (the AG) couldn't do it. So he did the next best thing. He banned any and all breeds that have the major characteristics of pit bull terriers. This includes cross bred dogs. Even if the cross breeding results in a gentler, more even tempered animal, they are on the ‘soon to be extinct' list. No one denies the fact that the original animal was bred to be a fierce fighter and champion of its territory. Hell, if I had to leave my wife for any extended time, I would sure want a dog like that around to look after her. German shepherds, Dobermans and Rottweilers were all originally bred the same way, for the same purpose. Yet through years of breeding and cross breeding, they have become much more manageable and thus much more acceptable to society. The problem really arose when some nitwits figured out that pit bulls would make excellent combatants in the world of dog fighting. They certainly did and soon the drug dealers were taking a serious look at the dog to prove that ‘mine is bigger than yours', if you get my drift. Much like a small man has to buy a Camaro to make up for his own physical inadequacies.