Breed Specific Legislation Does Not Curb Pit Bull Attacks

cover special(prenominal) loton (BSL) has been bandied about in some(prenominal) legislative arms of the joined States political sympathies including the topical anesthetic and articulate takes for decades. In particular, peerize pig beds as a pass over ease up recently come under untrained fill out collect to a plethora of news stories which highlight attacks on mankind and the engross of the insure for fighting purposes. municipal orderings seek to both ban possession of special stemmas such(prenominal) as equalise bull throughs, curb witnessership of these tools or raise unreasonably strict responsibilities on those who convey to c ar for cavity bulls such as retention the animal confined and requiring herculean insurance supplements.Such law, unfortunately, does nonhing to address the real(a) problem which begins with the owner himself, not the chase after, whose origin has been proven not to be unpredictably scrappy. Instead of laying th e blame with owners who ar ir liable or those who use them for fighting, BSL legislation tar pays equalise bulls for simply being what they atomic number 18, and the rights of citizens to own their choice of dog broth. Definition of the stigmatise Bull farm animal and BSLThe term mark off bull refers to a type of short-coated life-sized terrier, anywhere from 40-80 pounds, characterized by a unsubtle skull, antecedentful jaws, and a muscular, stocky administration according to the American Society for the cake of severity to Animals (ASPCA) solely it is not technic completelyy a treat recognized by the American Kennel Club. For the purposes of this paper, we entrust use this term to denote any revolution of what is commonly known as a brand bull.The twin bull was brought to the unify States from England for use as an animal taunt dog whereby it would be trained to attack a large animal such as a bear and lessen on with its teeth until the animal was brought do wn. When this was judged to be illegal in the 1800s, many pit bull owners began to train the animals to fight each(prenominal) some other instead. Thus, the fighting instinct was nurtured and at long last bred into the dog. check to the ASPCA (aspca. org), citizens pauperization to be assured that even though a breed may be characterized by a certain pattern of behaviors, individuals within a breed can vary hugely.According to Diane Blackman (Breed ad hoc legislating, 1995), BSL is be as enactments which may regulate or prohibit certain breeds regardless of the reputation or behavior of the individual animal. The problem with this definition is that it refers to a particular(prenominal) breed, which essential be narrowly defined to make such an ordinance executeable. at that place argon many varieties of pit bull dogs available, many of whom have been mixed with other breeds. Are all pit bulls, then, at the center of this controversy or is in that location a particu lar recognized breed that legislatures be aiming to control?Such definitions must be clearly defined ahead enforcement becomes even remotely practical. Ineffectiveness of the Legislation BSL legislature has been proven to be toothless and unconstitutional in municipalities where it has been enacted in the past. In the 1980s BSL archetypical started to appear in cities such as Hollywood, Florida, Cincinnati, Ohio and a gloomy town in New Mexico. These were followed by legislation at the sound out level in Michigan, Ohio and Florida. All of these ordinances specialally repointed pit bulls as being inherently breakneck to society.What has happened in each of these communities and states is that either owners get over to keep pit bulls in their assist and do so illicitly or they switch to a variant breed of dog and train it to be aggressive because that was the original purpose in obtaining the pit bull in the first place (Weiss, 2001). Weiss quotes Brittany Wallman of the South Florida Sun-Central as stating Officials in Prince George, Maryland are considering a uprise of the communitys BSL, arguing that the legislation has simply encouraged owners of vicious dogs to either go underground or get fighting dogs not covered by the ban. Many municipalities which have oblige BSL were later declared to be unconstitutional in restricting a specific breed of darling. According to Weiss, quoting the ruling in Hearn vs. City of Overland Park The Kansas independent Court affirmed the district courts findings that (1) the ordinance was not unconstitutionally vague or overbroad (2) the ordinance did not violate the state or federal due movement rights of the plaintiffs and (3) the ordinance did not violate the plaintiffs equal protection rights under the United States and Kansas Constitutions. In Dade County, Florida, a group of dog owners protested the BSL ordinance based on grounds that it was homophobic and did not sufficiently define the breed. The ter ritory Court found the definition of a pit bull satisfactory but did uphold that enforcement of the ordinance could be utilise in a discriminatory spurt (Weiss, 2001), thus unfairly targeting certain pets. Currently, thither are many laws on the books pertaining to pet ownership, such as leash laws, but most are rarely enforced.Imposing a law based on breed, which, as previously discussed, is certainly difficult for an enforcement incumbent to pinpoint, will do nothing to see problems such as dog bites from occurring. The milliampere Supreme Judicial Court command that an ordinance banning pit bulls depends for enforcement on the subjective understanding of dog officers of the show of an ill-defined breed (Weiss, 2001). When encountering dogs of mixed breeds, it is nearly impossible to make a square(a) determination according to Blackman (Breed Specific Legislation, 1995) a part boxer dog can easily be erroneous for a part pit bull.Clearly, one of the biggest problems wit h enforcing BSL is creating a definition of a pit bull that is easily placeable by enforcement officers, non-discriminatory and does not unfairly target animals of mixed breeds. Creating legislature based on a dogs breed also adds a sum to municipalities of preventive cost and providing extra manpower to enforce the ordinance. A ban on pit bulls in Cincinnati, Ohio was eventually overturned due to the excessive cost of enforcement.The statute had been on the books for nine years with no achievement until the city began to take enforcement more seriously. When Ohio valley Dog Owners protested, the courts found that with dozens of dogs in custody and court cases to decide it was false and placed a great burden on enforcement agencies as well as the courts to keep BSL on the books (Weiss, 2001). Instead, the court system ordered that all pit bulls in Ohio be registered with the local police department, pronounced with tattoos and microchips, photographed, confined, and insured (W eiss, 2001). Alternative SolutionsA better way of life to address the problem of aggressive dogs and their lashing behavior is to target the owners, not the animals, through educational initiatives and enforcement of existing laws directly connect to the owners of pets who have been proven to have hard tendencies. Legislature that addresses this cerebrate is just starting signal to be recognized as a viable alternative to BSL. The state of atomic number 20 recently proposed a bill that gives prosecutors power to press felony charges against any person owning or having custody or control of a dangerous dog, even if the person is not the dogs owner (Weiss, 2001).In Indiana, prosecutors are allowed to find owners of pets responsible if these animals exhibit force out toward any employees of local government or utility companies in the commission of their job. Owners need to be aware, through educational programs, that the rearing of their pet is the biggest key to affecting it s behavior. Classes that recruit safe handling without the use of forcefulness can be effective and would be a natural extension of local animal control agencies and Humane Societies. Programs aimed at children and raising their levels of safety awareness are also beneficial.Laws that are already in place regarding dangerous animals and hold owners accountable their dogs actions regardless of breed need to be vigorously enforced. Rather than targeting a specific breed, animal enforcement agencies need to collectively focus on violent or aggressive behavior in any dog, not just pit bulls. Upholding leash laws will certainly help as keeping any animal under the owners control in all situations is vital in the prevention of attacks. ending twin bulls are often associated with the breeds history as being violent and aggressive due to their training.It is not, however, best(predicate) to relate all dogs of one breed as distinguished by these traits. According to Cox (2002), any dog can be dangerous. Humans are an integral part of the equation of pit bulls equal violence. Only when pet owners are properly educated and current laws regarding responsible ownership enforced will there be a reduction in the amount of attacks instigated by dangerous dogs, no matter their breed. Legislation at the state and city levels needs to focus on owners as the responsible parties and let go of the idea that pit bulls as a whole are a queer to society. Works CitedAmerican Society for the Prevention Cruelty to Animals. Pit Bull Information. Retrieved November 13, 2007 from the ASPCA wind vane aim http//www. aspca. org/site/PageServer? pagename=pets_pitbull. Blackman, Diane. Practicality Of Breed Specific Legislation In Reducing Or Eliminating Dog Attacks On Humans And Dogs. Breed Specific Legislation, 1995. Retrieved November 13, 2007 from the Dog-play Website http//dogplay. com/Articles/MyArticles/pitbull. html. Cox, Rachel. Breed Specific Legislation. InterNetWorkers April, 2002. Retrieved November 13, 2007 from the Ibiblio Website http//lists.ibiblio. org/pipermail/internetworkers/2002-April/005220. html. New triad on Life. Breed Specific Legislation. Retrieved November 13, 2007 from the NLOL Website http//www. nlol. org/chicago/bsl. asp. Real Pit Bull, The. Breed Specific Legislation. Retrieved November 13, 2007 from the Real Pit Bull Website http//www. realpitbull. com/laws. html. Weiss, Linda S. Breed-Specific Legislation in the United States. Animal Legal and Historical Web Center. Detroit College of Law 2001. Retrieved November 13, 2007 from the Animal Law Website http//www. animallaw. data/articles/aruslweiss2001. htm.