Bramption (US), home of Brittany and Rambo two dogs who were seized from their owner for being ‘pit bulls’, and who after 3 months and $20,000 worth of legal fees were release because they weren’t, has been using the same approach to pit bull management, that is gaining so much momentum here in Oz.
An article today, shows exactly what that means. And it’s like looking into a horrifying crystal ball…
The statistics show over those five years, more than half of those dogs— 56 per cent— were seized in 2009. That’s a 138 per cent increase compared to the eight seizures of “illegal” pitbulls in 2008.
But that’s ok, right? I bet most of these dogs were those ‘American Staffies’ and I don’t own an American Staffy or a pit bull, so my dog is safe.
Only two of the dogs deemed to be illegal were American Staffordshire terriers. All the rest were mixed breeds, which are covered under both the provincial Dog Owners Liability Act (DOLA) and the city’s own dog bylaw. Both define a pitbull as a pitbull terrier, Staffordshire bull terrier, American Staffordshire bull terrier, American pitbull terrier, or “a dog that has an appearance and physical characteristics that are substantially similar to those dogs.”
So like, a bully, a staffy or something that looks like it? That sure describes an awful lot of dogs. Oh well, it’s obviously for the best. I bet their community is much safer.
Peel Health statistics show there has been no corresponding drop in reported dog bites in Brampton since the ban was put in place. The number of dog bites reported has remained steady over the last seven years, according to Paul Callanan, the region’s director of environmental health. In Brampton/Caledon there has been an average of 280 to 300 dog bites reported every year for the past seven, he said. The breeds of dog inflicting the bites is not information easily accessed, though, since the statistics are kept strictly for tracking rabies, Callanan said.
Oh dear. Well surely, this is just an isolated case. Other communities, who have had pit bull bans longer will have definintely ‘wiped them all out’ and be super dooper safe now!
From KC Dog Blog
Attempting to define the law purely in relation to breed has failed to protect the public.”
The Scotish Parliament today approved their new dangerous dog law they’ve been calling “dog Asbos” in a unanimous decision. The new law gives councils greater power to impose penalties for owners of badly behaved dogs and will focus on “deed not breed”. The law would replace several laws dealing with dogs in the country, including the Dangerous Dogs Act, which bans four breeds of dogs in Scotland.
Dog Asbos was proposed by MSP Alex Neil. In his proposal, he notes that the Dangerous Dogs Act was “difficult ot enforce and a huge drain on resources.” “It is clear that a dog’s breed is only one factor which may affect its behavior. Attempting to define the law purely in relation to breed has failed to protect the public.”
The statistics support Neil. Over the past decade, Scotland has seen an over 150% increase in dog attacks.
Bill Reilly, President of the British Veterinary Association commented:
“The key message is that any dog can show aggression, particularly if it is not handled and trained properly, so legislation that provides the tools to target irresponsible ownership before it becomes a problem is very welcome. The rest of the UK should now look at Scotland and replace the failed breed-specific legislation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.”
The law is not yet final, but seems on pace to be soon. Great work by the folks in Scotland in listening to the professional experts in their community and making changes to a clearly failing law.
Breed ban = Fail.
Its a shame that as we’re still just in the infancy of these kinds of bans in Australia, that we’ll have to go through the process of wrestling with them, waste the enormous expense of enforcing and defending them, killing dogs who’ve done nothing wrong and traumatising the families who love them…. only to have it fail to make the community in any way safer.
Its a shame there’s no way to talk to people on the other side of the world to find out what their experience have been, rather than just make it up on the fly. When there are hundreds of examples of these kinds of bans not working all over the world, wouldn’t it be good if there was some easy way to, I don’t know, have them share their experiences, before we do the same thing? Over some kinds of internet, or I dunno telephone? If only the technology would allow. Shame.
