Ziay!

John The Bear

Denver and the UK have banned pit bulls. Chicago is considering this after a pit bull attack in one of our suburbs involving pet dogs that were not trained to be aggressive. Do you think dog laws should target specific breeds? If not, how would you handle cases where dogs were raised properly and "turned?"

Daniel R

I think laws that ban specific breeds in ineffective and inappropriate especially with non-pure breads. I just adopted a dog that I'm told it is a boxer lab mix but looks like a pit bull, who is to say what it is.

A more effective use of legislation would be to require all dog owners to take courses and train their animals at the risk of loosing their pets. But ultimately law makers want a quick fix that they can sell, and educating people, unfortunately, is not quantifiable over night.

Loki ? Wolfchild

There's a saying that comes up with Breed-Specific Legislation (BSL) discussion: "Punish the deed, not the breed".

Pit Bulls as a breed are just as gentle and loving as any other, when socialized/trained properly. As a trainer, I've worked with many pet Pit Bulls and seen no cases of agression. The same is true of Rotties, Dobermans, etc. Blanket-banning a breed is reactionary and never completely successful -- the people who want them for dog fighting (by and large those who encourage nasty temperaments) will find a way to get them/keep them.

As for a properly-raised dog "turning", I would have to see the facts/specifics before I could decide how to handle the situation. There are so many variables, many of which have nothing to do with the dog's breed.

rrodriquez01

i work with a lot of pit bulls and they are the sweetest dogs. there are plenty of other dogs that are considered to be great pets that i am really afraid of (rottweilers, german shepards, american eskimos) Any dog can be aggressive if it's not properly trained. if a dog attacks someone out of no where then register that dog as a dangerous pet, but not the whole breed.