February 18, 2009Comments are closed.dogs
Another day, another kid gets bitten in the face. As is usually the case, the dog involved isn’t one of those scary restricted breeds, but simply a dog. C’mon people! Why is this still happening?
KC Dog Blog as usual has it nailed;
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UK Dangerous Dogs Act = Fail
For the better part of the last 15 years, the UK has been pointed to by people who support breed bans as a model that should be followed. They say, see, look, the UK did it — as if that is reason enough for other places to pass an ordinance.
I’ve dedicated a fair amount of time here talking about the UK Dangerous Dogs Act, noting that everyone over there is unhappy with the Act, calling it “Intellectually Ridiculous”, and noting that the UK has seen a 50% increase in serious dog bites since 1997, and Scotland, whic also is affected by the act, has seen a 150% increase in serious dog bites.
For those who aren’t familiar, the UK Dangerous Dogs Act essentially banned four breeds of dogs from the island: The American Pit Bull Terrier, the Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino and Fila Braileiro. The law has been a major failure because it focused on breeds of dogs as being the problem, instead of focusing on irresponsible ownership practices.
The lack of acknowledging that it is poor ownership, poor training of dogs, poor recognition of canine behavior and poor supervision of children with dogs that leads to attacks, not breeds, has caused the UK Dangerous Dogs Act to fail.
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The Australian Veterinary Association bucked the trend in the early 2000’s of ‘animal welfare advocates’ calling for a pit bull cull, and now following the failure of NSW breed bans to do anything to curb the number of dog attacks on children, are very diplomatically not singing ‘I told you so’, but would be well within their right to do so;
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The Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) is calling for more funding for responsible pet ownership education programs following a spate of dog bite incidents across Australia.
“Despite the calls for drastic measures we’re hearing in the media at the moment, educating people about responsible pet ownership is the most effective way of stopping these incidents,†Dr Mark Lawrie, AVA President said.
“Dogs can become highly excited when they are being hugged, kissed and teased by small children and high-pitched voices can further lift their agitation,†Dr Lawrie said.
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“Proper training and learning social skills are crucial for dogs, and we as owners must be the ones in charge of making sure our pets are taught to relate well to family, friends and strangers.
“It’s vital to make sure we never leave children, particularly those under five years of age, alone with any dog. Research indicates that there is a higher risk of dog bites in young children, especially toddlers, even with dogs that are well known to the family.
The answer to dog bites is education, not banning breeds
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We could have many, many more years of angry people bawling for stronger legislation each time a kid gets mauled by the family dog, and innocent dogs being taken from their homes because of the way they look…Â or we could stop using dog breeds as some sort of caste system and begin to support programs that actually work to help owners take better care of their pets.
