gen·o·cide: the deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, racial, political, or cultural group.
—Dictionary.com
Wait a minute, Jana, this applies to humans only...
Mo matter how you slice it, mankind is a destructive force. Depending on which source you go by, present rate of extinction is a high as 3 species per hour. We destroy other species, we destroy each other, we destroy ourselves.
Not always on purpose; but often so.
Throughout history—starting with Cain—it's been how we tend to solve our problems. But does it really solve them?
Breed-specific legislation is a law or ordinance passed by a legislative body pertaining to a specific breed or breeds of domesticated animals. In practice, it generally refers to laws or ordinances pertaining to a specific dog breed or breeds.
—Wikipedia.org
Legal jargon is amazing, isn't it? Almost makes it sound like something good.
What Cain didn't realize—Abel was not the source of his problem at all. What we don't seem to realize—the dogs aren't the problem either.
***
A guy is walking up and down the street, staring intently at the ground. Another guy sees him and gets curious: “Are you looking for something?”
“Yes,” he replies, “I lost my wedding ring. I have to find it or else I can't show up at home.”
“And here is where you lost it?”
“No, it was in the alleyway over there.”
“Well, if you lost it there, why are you looking here then?”
“Because this street is better lit.”
***
Is it really a surprise that a solution that doesn't address the real cause of a problem doesn't work?
What has BSL brought so far? Has the legislation decreased the incidence of dog bites? Or has it only led to slaughter and abuse of innocent dogs?
Let's take a look at Denmark example.
Denmark has one of the most strict dog breed bans in the world. 12 breeds are already banned and 13 more are lined up, making a total of 25 breeds to be banned in the near future. This will make Denmark the country with most breeds banned in the world. There is no indication 25 breeds is the final number.
The currently banned breeds are:
- Pitbull terrier
- Tosa inu
- American Staffordshire Terrier
- Fila Brasileiro
- Dogo Argentino
- American Bulldog
- Boerboel
- Kangal
- Central Asian ovtcharka
- Caucasian ovtcharka
- South Russian ovtcharka
- Tornjak
- Sarplaninac
- Anatolian Shepherd Dog
- Bull Mastiff
- Cane corso italiano
- Cao fila de Sao Miguel
- Dogo canario
- Ibero mastiff
- Maremma
- Mastin espanol
- Mastino napoletano
- Polski Owczarek podhalanski
- Rottweiler
- Staffordshire Bull Terrier
And yet, statistics are showing that, one year after the implementation of Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) in Denmark, the dog bite incidents have increased!
According to the report published by the Danish association Fair Dog, the number of dog bite incidents measured before and after the BSL was implemented, increased by 26%!
More importantly to me, the dog bite incidents involving the now banned breeds were no more than 6.5% of all dog bites to start out with!
What BSL did do is dogs being euthanized, or worse, dropped in the woods and abandoned to die horrible deaths!
Together with the people of Be The Change for Animals (BTC), we started a petition to tell Denmark to stop banning breeds. There is a Danish petition with over 11,000 signatures already. Finally, one in English for the rest of the world to speak up. Please sign the petition, and pass it on to your friends:
Tomorrow it could be your dog!
For more information on Danish BSL please visit Kenzo the Hovawart blog.
Further reading:
The face of a breed ban: make your voice heard
Dog bite incidents increase: BSL has no effect
Open letter about BSL was answered ... was it?
Danish breed ban rests on historically thin basis
A week of discussing breed bans without facts
Open letter to Merete Eldrup
How BSL can bring a whole country into madness
BSL up close and personal
Pitbull massacre needs to be stopped (warning: saddening photos)
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