Have you been following the situation is Maryland?
The gist is that the Maryland Court of Appeals declared that pit bulls are “inherently dangerous.”
While this ruling isn’t legislative – in other words, it doesn’t actually ban bully breeds – it sets the stage for discriminatory renting and insurance practices, owner surrenders, greater burdens on shelters, and so on.
It baffles me how little the Maryland court learned about dogs before making the ruling. It baffles me to think about how many dogs’ lives will be lost because of this single, shortsighted ruling.
Beyond how simply heartbreaking this situation is, there’s this: It’s a massive setback in terms of public perception about bully breeds.
I should know better (I do know better… sigh) than to read the comments on all these articles, but I’ve been pouring over them. I’m amazed, completely flabbergasted, to read the misinformed rants that accompany the news articles about this ruling. It’s disheartening.
Anti-bully-breed folks feel vindicated and are posting things like, “There’s a reason this ruling is pit bulls and not cockers or labs – cockers and labs aren’t dangerous. Pits are.”
Of course, we know that cockers and labs do bite people. Any dog, regardless of breed, can bite. Instead of a dog-bite prevention focus or a responsible-owner focus, this ruling puts the onus on the dogs’ shoulders now. Not fair.
As you follow this story – or any other BSL story, really – here’s what I’m asking you to do: Leave polite, cheerful, informational comments in response to the article itself or in response to comments like the one I shared above. Try to educate without pulling from the deep emotional element of this debate.
I’ve read two comments that drive home the importance of being polite in our responses to this stuff. First, someone wrote on a newspaper piece, “The only thing more rabid than a pit bull is their owner.” While it doesn’t make any logical sense, the sentiment is clear.
The second one cracked me up. It said that the only type of people that poster hated more than pit bull owners were hybrid drivers.
Rant over! But as you follow this story, please, take action. Leave comments, engage in discussion, be polite, educate!
Image: NetDiva
I truly believe there’s no such thing as a bad dog only bad owners.
I agree. Maryland’s legislature doesn’t understand the root cause of the issue. They should be going after the breeders, not the dogs. Just as Retrievers are bred to achieve a “soft mouth” and a love of water, many Pit Bulls have been bred to acheive exceptionally strong jaws and an aggressive disposition. If breeders focus on improving the disposition of the breed, the bite statistics will decline, as will the insurance industry’s reluctance to insure. The Pit Bull was the most popular dog in the US in the 1930’s. It’s sad to see them vilified like this.
It seems to me, that if the breed NAME was changed, to something like SOOKY dogs, or GIRLY dogs, most of the morons who breed and treat the dogs badly, would go to another breed. Having written that, I find the nicest owners own them DESPITE the breed reputation, as they feel so sad for these dogs, so often killed, never adopted. When a dog is brought up with love and gentleness, it gives the dog a chance to overcome it’s breeding history. If you want a PB because your heart breaks for them, then you should be able to get them as pets. If you want a pit bull, because of the name, the history and the reputation, I think you have a psychological problem. Truthfully, whilst I would never shorten a dogs life without extraordinary reason, I do not understand people who want to breed them. Rescue them, of course – but I’d find the idea of that desire to breed dogs of that reputation, incomprehensible. Think about the large number of really appalling dog owners who would be interested in your dogs. How little chance they have, if they lose their home, to be adopted. Rescue them. Don’t breed more.
I agree, Molly. I’m not a breeder and I do support rescue. I think breeding is morally wrong, given the pet overpopulation problem in our country. My point was just that the MD legislature blames the dogs and good people like you who love them, when they should blame the breeders. 30-40 years ago GSDs and Dobies also suffered from discrimination because they were bred to be guard dogs. Responsible breeders (I know, that’s an oxymoron) bred for temperament and the bite statistics declined. It’s all about the numbers for the government and insurance industry. It would be a blessing for all shelter and puppy mill animals if this issue were used to lobby for strict breeding regulations and enforcement.
I know exactly how you feel. The city I live in actually bans pit bulls. The misinformation out there is amazingly frustrating.
I don’t live in Maryland, but I work there and I take my dog to work with me everyday. I own an American Bull dog and he is the best dog I have ever owned. He was a rescue and I have no idea what his breeding background is, but I am a responsible owner and socialized him and trained him from a young age to be a good dog. I believe that it is the owners fault if the dog becomes vicious. If you train it to be an attack dog, it will be, no matter what the breed.
Of course there are the exceptions to every rule, I have seen good dogs go bad. I was personally attached to a pit bull that did. Somewhere along the line she lost a screw, and things just went down hill from there. This is not the case though in many of the instances that led up to this ruling. Bad owners make good dogs go bad. Any dog can be vicious at any time, but good training and care leads to good behavior.
It’s so unfortunate that many pitbulls get such a bad rep for being vicious dogs but not all are that way. Some other dogs have a tendency to be agressive too but it doesn’t mean they are. My neighbor owns a pitbull who is the sweetest dog ever. She rarely barks and is actually afraid of people; not the agressive behavior people think. People don’t get the right information
Every dog is different and it most definitely depends on how they are raised. You cannot go by just what breed they are to determine their temperament. My Golden Retriever is getting older and sick and bit my puppy the other day. I never would have thought she would do anything like that.
My son had a pitbull that was the sweetest dog ever and never bit a single soul.
To single out a breed is just not right.
Cody, Sierra, and I think this is ridiculous!