I never planned on launching a campaign to combat a law in a city 1,069 miles from my own. I never planned to use this blog or my Twitter account or Facebook page to do anything more than talk about my boys and dog training and pet products. I never planned to advocate for… anything, really. I love animals, and I’m utterly smitten with dogs. I believe with all my heart in their welfare, but I never planned to get a campaign of this magnitude going.
For those of you who are new to this space, a little background: It all started with BlogPaws. The conference in Ohio was amazing. Though I couldn’t take Emmett – they still had statewide BSL at that point – I enjoyed every moment and left feeling inspired and motivated to improve this blog. Then the second conference was announced for Denver. Denver, with its abhorrent record of animal welfare, a record of putting several thousand dogs down simply because they look like my Emmett.
So here I am.
And I’ve put a lot of thought into why I hope (expect?) other people to care about this. The reality is, breed-discriminatory language goes far beyond a “pit bull” issue. It’s at its core an animal welfare issue. Can we really stand by and let thousands of dogs be killed across the nation simply because of how they look? Every single one of those dogs deserved a good life. They deserved loving homes with families who fed, walked, trained, and socialized them. They deserved so much more than what we allowed to happen to them. That, to me, is what BSL means: Taking from our dogs the lives that they deserve.
It means that we’ve given permission to our municipalities to pass laws that say which dog breeds we’re allowed to love – and that the rest? Go ahead and euthanize them.
It means that we’re allowing some dogs’ lives to be valued over others. Should Emmett be more expendable than Lucas just because of how different they look?
It means that we’ve gotten to the point where a dog that mauls a child isn’t news, unless the dog in question was a pit bull or mix.
It means that when a dog bites, the dog’s future is determined by its breed. And the dog’s people? Well, they’re off the hook because it was the pit bull’s fault, not the owner’s.
It means that we’ve rendered dangerous dog laws ineffective because we make those laws breed-specific. If a lab or a Chihuahua or a poodle bites someone… well, we’ll look the other way. Because those aren’t dangerous breeds, right? Dangerous dogs, dogs who maul or attack a person, should be the focus of these laws, not the breed of a dog. The owners of those dogs should be dealt with swiftly and severely. But BSL takes the onus off of dog owners.
The simple fact is that breed-specific legislation doesn’t work. It costs cities a fortune to enforce, but it doesn’t cause even the slightest decrease in bite numbers. And it costs thousands of dogs their lives. How can we let that stand?
As we round the corner on the last month of the Campaign to End BSL: Operation Denver, let’s give it our all. Send in postcards, tweet with the #endBSL tag, and post the campaign on Facebook.
We have the opportunity to be the voice for these dogs to the Mayor of Denver.
Let’s make sure we’re really, really loud.
Beautifully written and very well put! I’ll share this on my blog on Thursday and keep reminding people on Facebook. Have any of the big rescues like BadRap gotten involved with this? Maybe StubbyDog could do another post on it. I know Brent at KC Dog Blog has posted on it but perhaps he’d be willing to do a reminder.
I think the most frustrating thing about BSL is that people seem to think if they don’t have a pit bull, it just doesn’t apply to them. I recently posted a list of 75 dog breeds that are either banned or restricted in the US. BSL has the potential to touch everyone in some way or another. Whether it’s by their own dog being banned or whether it’s because they suffered a bite from what a city has deemed a “safe” breed. It should matter to all of us.
Thanks again for everything you’re doing!
Thank you so much for your kind response – and for posting it on your blog! I sincerely appreciate any and all help for this last big push. I’ll definitely be reaching out to bully orgs this week!
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Good for you, you’re doing great work!
What a wonderful and heartfelt post. You’ve been so inspiring to me. As a reformed pitbull fearer (they are one of my favorite kinds of dogs now) I never really spoke up when I heard people say things like “pitbulls are nice, until they turn on you” or “so and so owns a pitbull! Those dogs are vicious.” But now I do after being inspired by your fight against BSL. Hopefully we’ll all help change peoples’ minds for the better.
Oh, Ashley! Thank you for your very kind words. And I do think we can change peoples’ minds… it’s just going to take time, patience, and people like you who are smitten with bullies!
I’m joining you in barking out loud for this cause. Your post was written with passion and intelligence. You know your beautiful Emmett inside and out and are sticking up for him…and all his friends!
I love how you wrote this! The funny thing is, that most people who feel this way about pitbulls have never even met one in real life. Just like Ashley I too used to hate and fear pitbulls…until I actually met one. Now we own 2 and we try to get them out there to show the true reality of pitbulls. We love everything you’re doing.
Thank you so much for your comment! I love your blog, by the way! I think you’re exactly right… Most people haven’t encountered a pit bull, and their ideas are based solely on newspaper headlines. I saw a video clip from that show Pit Boss (I’ll try to dig up the link!) where he was on a radio show, and the caller was talking about how pit bulls bite people. He asked him if he had ever been bitten by a pit bull, and the guy was like… Well, noooo…. Then Shorty asked him if he had ever been bitten by any other dog breed, and the guy said yes!
Hi Maggie, wanted to share this blog post with you. It’s from my granddaughter’s blog – she visited a local shelter and posted about how pit bulls are just misunderstood. She’ll be at BlogPaws. Would love to get the two of you together. Enjoy: http://www.start-the-change.com/2010/08/pitbulls.html
Thanks, Yvonne, for passing that link along! I look forward to meeting your granddaughter at BlogPaws!