Pit Bull Bans Only Breed Paranoia
October 4, 2016
The Montreal City Council voted to adopt a new pit bull breed regulation bylaw this month, and animal activists around the world were outraged. Petitions have circulated all forms of social media to boycott the city, garnering over 200,000 signatures. However, the council, headed by Mayor Denis Coderre, ended up passing a ban on the dog breed, outlawing the adoption of these dogs past Oct. 3 of this year. The ban also pledges to euthanize all breeds related to pit bulls currently in shelters around Montreal’s 19 boroughs, simply because of one fatal dog attack that occurred over three months ago.
The entire dog breed cannot be blamed for the wrongdoings of a few mishandled animals. Pit bulls are not a vicious breed; they are misunderstood because they are large, strong dogs with a turbulent hereditary history. However, the loving, cuddly dogs of today hardly mirror the origins of the breed. The fault cannot possibly fall on an entire breed of dogs — there is no evidence that they are predisposed to kill.
Sure, if a dog is left outside, chained to a fence all day, neglected and abused, it would become vicious. But Chihuahuas, Yorkshire Terriers and other small dog breeds are known for being nippy or unfriendly. It seems like the ban was put in place because of unfair stereotypes about pit bulls.
Breed banning will never actually work to stop dog bites. The fault lies with the owners who mistreat and create hostile environments for their dogs, who are not born vicious. Instead of banning breeds, Montreal should pass laws that enforce a greater background check of owners. Dogs should not be able to be sold to just anyone. They should be guaranteed good lives, where they will not need to live in fear of the human who is supposed to love them unconditionally.
Now that this bylaw has been passed, the Montreal dog owners now need to go through several steps to make sure that the dog that they love is safe from euthanasia. Owners of all dogs and cats must now obtain a license for their pet, or they could face fines. Pit bulls will no longer be able to be adopted, and current pit bull owners must obtain a special license by Dec. 31, 2016. If said license is not obtained, the dog is also subject to police seizure and subsequent euthanasia. Finally, as of Oct. 3, any pit bull-type dog must be muzzled at all times no matter what, which will only raise the animals’ frustration levels.
The discrimination of pit bulls will only rise with this most recent banishment. Tensions between the dog owners of Montreal and the council will escalate as innocent dogs are subjected to these absurd regulations just because of their appearance instead of their actual temperament.
Opinions expressed on the editorial pages are not necessarily those of WSN, and our publication of opinions is not an endorsement of them.
Email Alyssa DeFalco at [email protected].
Debbie Bell • Oct 14, 2016 at 9:54 am
Look to the true experts on unprovoked prolonged dog aggression, the “kill or die tryin” style of dog fighter of the USA and UK.
They all choose pits/BULLY dogs because pits were created to mature to become the murdering psychopaths, the gladiators, of the dog world.
Dog fighters don’t use GSDs or Dobermans because, while all dogs can bite, these others weren’t selectively bred to have the man-made game/insane drive to kill their own family, their own kind, FOR NO REASON as pits/BULLY dogs were and largely still are.
Doubt that pits are still being bred for the pit? Check out game dog forums, videos of “sporting dog yards”, thousands and thousands of dogs all being bred for one goal, to nature to have the despicaBULL trait to attack and kill dogs. These are being sold and shipped all over the country and the world.
Those pits who don’t mature to begin to focus on dogs, with the drive to maul and not stop, (including killing opposite sex puppies), are culled by their sadistic breeders as embarrassing failures.
When I’ve asked pit bull breeders if they are breeding away from deadly dog aggression, none have ever said that they were. Instead the response is ” dog aggression is what makes a pit a pit. “. And ” that’s the only way to test their gameness (insaneness).”
Now that dog fighting is illegal, it’s time to make breeding the fighting dogs illegal too. Enact and enforce mandatory sterilization of pits, BULLIES, all dog aggressive dogs.
Thomas McCartney • Oct 4, 2016 at 7:31 pm
First, second and third we want, need and should demand public safety and personal security.
Anything that stands in the way of this must be removed, not changed, not modified, not altered but Removed completely.
To argue in effect for breed neutral legislation that is not preemptive but reactive and dependent on responsible ownership is an oxymoron that has no purpose nor use and will not stand.
Yes Pit bull ownership going underground due to BSL would be a good thing, through this fact one would rarely encounter the owner or mutant undog and the likelihood of attack from them both would be drastically reduced into obscurity, what can’t access you can’t hurt you.
Having them hidden in far far smaller numbers in some basement or attic is far preferable to having the current numbers allowed to be owned where the safety of said community would be wholly dependent on the responsibility of pit bull owners when such ownership does not nor has it existed in the last 30+ years.
To think that if we merely ask and say pretty please and try to inform the pit bull owner of what his responsibilities should be that he will then undertake them is foolish, naive, and dangerous.
Their numbers will not decline, the pit bull owners will not become responsible and an ever worsening status quo will be the outcome of such viewpoints.
Most pit bull owners are fully aware of what they own, their history and capability, they just don’t care nor will they.
This battle is not about semantics, it is about truth, facts and life and death, these are what need to be imparted to the general public so that they understand the reality of what the pit bull type dog is so they can react accordingly, this must be phrased in a stark black and white contrast.
Playing word games & using PR obfuscation merely distracts the public from the real core safety issue involved, in the immortal words of Joe Friday they need the facts, just the real facts mame.
The pit nutters minds can’t be changed by facts or anything because they are not rational sentient beings, they are culls and a lost cause.
But facts will change and direct the silent majority to the reality of the situation and then they will do the rest for us all.
You can NOT be a responsible Lion owner in a residential suburban context, nor a responsible owner of a tiger, cougar, cobra or wolverine, to try to sell the concept that one can be a responsible pit bull type dog owner is as irrational as any of those options would be in regards to the vast % of pit bull type dogs and there owners.
Pit bull owners don’t care about your right of freedom to be safe, they don’t care about their obligation to be responsible and don’t recognize the existence of said concept.
They will never agree to any restriction placed upon them, even a leash law, S/N law or that they undergo a basic training course with their undogs are an anathema to them, how are you going to get them to agree to really serious restrictions like insurance, muzzleing, kenneling, short lease, getting their undogs fixed and chipped, registered with photos, if you believe any of that is possible you are living in a dream world that is a fantasy that will be the death of us all.
When it comes to pit bull type dog owners you are talking about narcissistic sociopaths who don’t care who don’t feel, to whom you, yours and anyone is expendable whose lives have no purpose nor meaning to pit nutters.
To think that one can get them to change and accept responsibility and restrictions on their undogs for our betterment is foolish and delusional.
They don’t even care about their own dogs and consider them disposable, so to think they will agree to these restrictions for their undogs sake is misguided at best.
Pit bull owners have lost their minds and never had their hearts, the only thing that will work is hard core enforcement of severe BSL unless you want the status quo expounded many times over in blood facts on the pavement.
BSL is the only solution, any breed neutral abstract application of psychology would be doomed to failure.!!!!
Thomas McCartney • Oct 4, 2016 at 7:31 pm
The All dogs are in danger by BSL is a red herring designed by pit bull type dog advocacy to deflect and obfuscate the focus from where it belongs, all dogs that are pit bull type dogs with pit bull Genetic lineage with a direction connection genetically to the Ol English Bulldoggee Butcher dog & Roman Alaunt war dogs are in need of extinction and are not fit to interact with the human race safely.
We are talking about maybe 15 Pit Bull Type Dogs out of over 400 breeds of dogs in existence, hardly a threat to all dogs and in realty it is the 3 main breeds with the rest mixes of them or not so distant cousins of them merely known by another name elsewhere in the world.
All other Dogs even other molossor dogs have no genetic connection to the Ol English Bulldoggee Butcher dog and are moot to this conversation and in no need of BSL.
If you focus on only the 3 most popular pit bull type dogs you risk them hiding their pit bulls behind the name of another allowed pit bull type dog or simply switching to it, no different from switching from a white pit bull to a brown one.
The answer is that you ban all pit bull type dogs which are: American Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire bull terriers, American pit bull terriers, American Bulldog, Bull mastiffs, dogo argentinos, fila brasieros, presa canarios, Japanese Tosa, cane corsos, Bandogs, rhodesian ridgebacks and their mixes and any dog generally recognized as a pit bull or pit bull terrier and includes a dog of mixed breed with predominant pit bull or pit bull terrier characteristics.
It is all or none, otherwise the protected pit bulls will just keep on mauling, as well it will give an opportunity to allow pit nutters to call their APBT this other protected type of pit bull to avoid any BSL or simply get a Dogo Argentino for an example which would be even worse then a APBT in similar numbers.
It is exactly like saying only tan APBT’s are dangerous and that all Black & all White ones are safe, same outcome too i might add a hopeless failure of BSL in that context with no change in the number of attacks that Kill, Maul, Maim, Disfigure, Dismember, cause Life Flights or trips to the Intensive Care Unit.
No Kill Nutters and Pit Bull Nutters walk hand in hand off of the same cliff of insanity hand in glove, functionally speaking more often then not they are one and the same.!!
Thomas McCartney • Oct 4, 2016 at 7:30 pm
The difference between normal dogs and Pit Bull Type Dogs is that those non pit bull type dogs regardless of their size do not have an inherent genetic predisposition to Kill, Maul, Maim, Disfigure, Dismember, cause Life Flights or trips to the Intensive Care Unit.
They can be taken on a dog by dog basis and their ownership will determine their behavior.
All pit bull type dogs have an inherent genetic predisposition to Kill, Maul, Maim, Disfigure, Dismember, cause Life Flights or trips to the Intensive Care Unit due to their genetic connection to the Roman war dog Aluant & The Ol English Bulldogge precursor genetics that led to the creation of the Pi Bull Terrier, and will do so no matter how they are raised, it is a generic genetic reality which is why they all need to be banned to prevent there numbers from reaching greater numbers which would lead to carnage in the streets.
In North America, from 1982-2014, Bullmastiffs have been responsible for 111 serious attacks on humans, resulting in 63 maimings and 18 deaths.
In North America, from 1982-2014, Presa Canarios have been responsible for 111 attacks on humans that resulted in 18 fatalities.
In North America, from 1982-2014, Cane Corsos have seriously attacked 21 humans that resulted in 12 maimings and 2 fatality. In addition, a Cane Corso/Pit Bull mix attacked 1 person that resulted in a fatality.
In North America, from 1982-2014, Dogo Argentinos have been responsible for 5 serious attacks on humans that resulted in 1 fatality. This breed in rare in North America.
In North America from 1982-2014 Fila Brasileiro’s have seriously attacked 5 humans and were responsible for 1 death.
Thomas McCartney • Oct 4, 2016 at 7:28 pm
Over 1000 years ago The Invading Roman Legions of the English Islands brought with them the Roman Alaunt war dogs which they then mixed with the English Mastiff, the outcome of this careful breeding process of the two dog types was the Ol English Bulldogge.
The Ol English Bulldogge was Breed to kill Bears, Bulls & Large draft horses in the pit and then later each other in dog fights after it was crossed with the Terrier to create the Pit Bull Terrier, they are what they do, Kill, Maul, Maim, Disfigure, Dismember, cause Life Flights or trips to the Intensive Care Unit.
Any dog type that has the pit bull terrier genetic precursor genetics from the Ol English Bulldogge & Roman Alaunt war dog is a Pit Bull Type Dog with the same genetics and outcome and danger.
The American Bulldog is a mix of this original Ol English Bulldogge with a mastiff type and can also be classified within this group; the two breeds share a common gene pool and are close cousins. The breed standard for the American bulldog, Scott-type, was developed by crossing early Johnson lines with the American pit bull terrier.
In Effect it is a Pit Bull Mix with the same genetics and threat to public safety that is the case in the American Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire bull terriers, American pit bull terriers.
This is what an American Bull dog is, in effect a pit bull type dog, 6 of one half a dozen of another, same difference same outcome:
Progressive pit bull legislation includes the American bulldog in its definition of a pit bull.
The term Pit bull type dog refers to many variants with the same mutated genetic truth and reality and outcome.
They include the American Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire bull terriers, American pit bull terriers, and their glorified Pit Bull Mixes such as :
the American Bulldog, Bull mastiffs, dogo argentinos, fila brasieros, presa canarios, Japanese Tosa, cane corsos, Bandog, Boerboel, Rhodesian Ridgeback, & Catahoula Bulldog and their mixes.!
Thomas McCartney • Oct 4, 2016 at 7:27 pm
Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Pit bulls are not only problematic in large cities; they threaten mid-sized cities and small towns as well. Located in the heartland, Council Bluffs, Iowa has about 60,000 citizens.
After a series of devastating attacks, beginning in 2003, Council Bluffs joined over 600 U.S. cities and began regulating pit bulls.
The results of the Council Bluffs pit bull ban, which began January 1, 2005, show the positive effects such legislation can have on public safety in just a few years time:1
Council Bluffs: Pit Bull Bite Statistics.
Year Pit Bull Bites % of All Bites.
2004 29 23%.
2005 12 10% (year ban enacted).
2006 6 4%.
2007 2 2%.
2008 0 0%.
2009 0 0%.
2010 1 1%.
2011 0 0%.
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Ottumwa, Iowa
Population 24,998
In July 2010, Police Chief Jim Clark said there had been no recorded pit bull attacks since the city’s 2003 pit bull ban. Between 1989 and 2003, the city had a pit bull ordinance, but still allowed pit bulls as “guard” dogs.
“Police Chief Jim Clark says since the ban, there have been no recorded attacks by the animals.
“We haven’t had any attacks since then for one thing because it is illegal,” said Clark. “Most people are keeping their dogs inside their house or inside their basement and not letting them out loose so therefore they’re not around other people to attack them.”
“In the two-and-a-half years before the 2003 ban, Ottumwa police recorded 18 pit bull attacks, including the death of 21-month-old Charlee Shepherd in August 2002. There were at least three other attacks on children during this time.”
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Little Rock, Arkansas
Population 189,515
When the City of Indianapolis was discussing a pit bull sterilization law in April 2009, Little Rock Animal Services Director Tracy Roark spoke about Little Rock’s successful 2008 pit bull ordinance:
“There was a day when you could walk down any street in center city Little Rock, you could see several pit bulls chained up. You don’t see that anymore,” said Tracy Roark with Little Rock Animal Services.
Roark told Eyewitness News over the phone that pit bull attacks have been cut in half and credits their new law with getting them there.
“This is the most abused dog in the city,” said Roark.
The Little Rock law passed last year and requires pit bulls to be sterilized, registered and microchipped. Also dogs – regardless of the breed – are also not allowed to be chained up outside.”
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Fort Lupton, Colorado
Population 6,787
When the City of Fort Collins was mulling a pit bull law in March 2009, Fort Lupton’s Police Chief spoke about Fort Lupton’s successful 2003 pit bull ban, including zero pit bull biting incidents since the law’s adoption:
“Fort Lupton Police Chief Ron Grannis said the city hasn’t had a pit bull bite since the ban was enacted, but it still has the occasional pit bull that is picked up and taken away.
Although he said the ban has not been well-received by every resident, he thinks it was the right decision for the city.
“I believe it makes the community safer,” he said. “That’s my personal opinion. Pit bulls are not the kind of dogs most people should have. They are too unpredictable. … These dogs have been bred for thousands of years to be fighters.
You can’t take it out of them. A lion cub may be friendly for a while, but one day it can take your head off.”
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Reading, Pennsylvania
Population 80,560
After an 8-year legal battle, pit bull advocates dismantled a pit bull law adopted by Reading in 1998. It was reported in the same news article, in February 2008, that the law had significantly reduced biting incidents:
“Reading’s 1998 law required that aggressive or dangerous dogs, when outside the home, be muzzled and kept on a leash shorter than three feet long with a minimum tensile strength of 300 pounds.
The law also punished violators with fines of up to $1,000 or 30 days in jail.
The law is credited with helping to reduce dog bites from 130 in 1999 to 33 in 2006. As a result, the law – or at least elements of it – were not being actively enforced, the Reading Eagle reported last year.
Thomas McCartney • Oct 4, 2016 at 7:22 pm
Bully This—The Results Are In…
Thursday, September 26 2013 | Dr. Emily Weiss
Dr. Emily Weiss shares findings from new research on adopter choice and breed ID.
Last year the creative staff at Richmond SPCA came to us with a great idea—they wanted to see what impact a DNA analysis that would identify breed mixes would have on adopter choice. The ASPCA Shelter Research and Development department designed the study and provided a grant for Richmond SPCA to act as the shelter laboratory for this work.
The Mars Wisdom Panel agreed to work with us on this project providing quick analyses. The question we are asking is, “When adopters are given a choice between adopting a dog labeled ‘pit-type dog’ and a dog who looks like a pit type and has a DNA panel identifying his breed mix, are they more likely to choose one over the other?”
The dogs who were subjects in this study were chosen through visual identification by Richmond SPCA intake staff as “pit mix” or “pit-type.” Dogs were placed in either a control group (where DNA analysis was not visible to the public, but the traditional cage card identified the dog as a “pit mix” or “pit-type”) or the experimental group, where the DNA analysis was visible to the public. Group placement was made random by the roll of dice.
It is important to note that the Wisdom Panel does not currently test for American Pit Bull, but does test for dog breeds often lumped into a category of bully type. Through informal survey of animal welfare professionals, we identified Staffordshire terrier, American Staffordshire terrier and American bulldog as the breeds most would agree fit into a “bully” or “pit-type” category (and yes, we acknowledge this can be endlessly debated).
The Richmond SPCA collected data on the number of visits with potential adopters each dog had, the length of stay on the adoption floor and returns; adopters also filled out a survey at the time of adoption. Each adopter filled out a survey in which they were asked to self-identify the dog’s breed, to write why they chose the dog they adopted and to rank specific characteristics that affected their decision to adopt the dog.
We ended up with 91 dogs in the study—50 in the experimental group and 41 in the control group. There were no significant differences in ages or sex between the two groups.
The first finding I am sharing here impacted our ability to answer some of the questions we were hoping to answer in a significant way. We found out just how well Richmond SPCA staff did in visually identifying dogs likely to have Staffordshire terrier, American Staffordshire terrier or American bulldog as at least 25% of their breed make-up. Out of the 91 dogs, only 4 dogs had none of these breeds in their DNA, and 57% had one of those breeds as the primary breed.
Sherman, one of the four dogs without Staff or American bulldog in his analysis. He is Irish setter, chow chow and Great Dane (and Trish Loehr thought a bit of bunny, too)!
The Wisdom panel results being visible to the public did not significantly impact the number of days to adoption or any of the other measures. Our survey found that a dog’s behavior with people was the number one reason for choosing the dog that they did, followed by appearance.
I have written before that there is likely no shortage of people wanting dogs who look like or are bully-type dogs. Many of those who adopted said they specifically loved the breed type—making the behavior within individuals an important driver of choice.
So what does this all mean? The population of dogs coming into the sheltering population in Richmond, VA, may be different than elsewhere, but at least at the Richmond SPCA, with a specific look and type, staff were quite good at breed identification—correctly identifying 96% of the dogs in the study as having at least 25% of the breeds noted above.
Having the information as to what breeds the dog had in his ancestry did not significantly impact the measures we were monitoring.
As we anticipated that more of the dogs would not have bully-type breeds in their reports, we were not able to dive into the question of “he looks like a X but he really is a Y”—something that may still be worth exploring in order to better understand adopter choice.
And in my opinion, the big takeaway here is that there are adopters who specifically love and want dogs who look like pit-type dogs—so let’s get them home already!
http://www.aspcapro.org/blog/2013/09/25/bully-this%E2%80%94-results-are-in%E2%80%A6
Mary Ann Redfern • Oct 4, 2016 at 1:51 pm
And another news agency willing to risk the lives of people, pets and livestock animals by publishing typical pit bull propaganda rhetoric. Pit bulls were bred about 200 years ago in England for the one and only purpose of killing each other in dog fighting pis for the blood sport, gambling amusement of the vile dog men who created this “breed”. The DNA of those original “bull and terrier” dogs have been passed down through these two centuries, even crossing an ocean when the Staffordshire Bull Terriers of England and Ireland migrated to America in the late 1800’s and brought their “Staffies” with them. Pit bulls are THE dog fighters’ choice of dog for their bloody “sport”, bar none. Pit bulls are not dangerous because they are fought in pits….they are fought in pits because they are dangerous…bred to be by the dog men of old England.
Julie Wall • Oct 4, 2016 at 8:35 am
RESPONSIBLE MONTREAL PIT BULL OWNERS GET TO KEEP THEIR DOGS! Thousands of Montreal pit bulls are not going to die. SPCA de Montréal stated intake of pit bull type dogs a year is around 700. They think there are around 7,000 pit bull type dogS in Montreal.
Think about it. If all the pit bulls are fixed in Montreal, the shelters will not have to deal with the overpopulation of unwanted pit bulls.
Pit bulls are ALREADY being put down in massive numbers in cities without pit bull bans. The head of animal control in Pawtucket RI said that before the ban they put down pit bulls weekly, as well as picked up the dead ones from dogfighting. After the ban, in 2012, they put down three pit bulls in the entire year
http://safetybeforebulldogs.blogspot.com/2014/02/pawtucket-rhode-island-pit-bull-ban-and.html
Pit bull-type dogs are responsible for 95% of severe attacks on people, pets and livestock.
Please follow for one month to see what I mean: http://www.nationalpitbullvictimawareness.org/