BSL stinks
Have only just spotted this thread and what a read it was too!
Just wanted to chip in to air my own personal opinion that BSL is a disgraceful, prejudicial, ignorant and uninformed knee jerk reaction to NEWSPAPER sensationalism and public ignorance.
Its so easy to jump on a bandwagon when one major news story hits the headlines, but it takes a lot more EFFORT and WORK to trawl through the LOGIC in your own mind, and make an intelligent rational decision. This is precisely WHY sensationlism SELLS, people react to it, they BUY on it, they TALK about it, it spreads the marketing word virally and its generally just a fantastically successful technique, but that doesn't mean it doesn't stink.
In my (very humble) opinion, but an opinion which should COUNT nonetheless, if we follow the same 'logic', all the news stories of black men committing crimes could easily cause us to think black people are the source of all crime and social depravity, and if there were not laws preventing (thank GOD) then maybe we would be banning their very existence under similar 'BSL' for humans. Maybe its down to the fact that WHITE men generally write the news? Maybe not, as i said its just my opinion. Its also my opinion that most dog owners involved in writing the news own a Labrador or a Retriever or something similarly beautiful in the public eye's image of dogs.
I have met more lowlife's who own PBTs and some other similar looking breeds than i have for other breeds, sorry to say it i really am, and i am NOT saying all owners are like that AT ALL because i also know some brilliant owners and there are clearly many on this forum who own these types of dogs, BUT my point is that PEOPLE make a dog what it is, and NOTHING ELSE. The experiences a dog is permitted to go through, the behaviours it is either allowed or encourage to possess are the makings of the adult dog. Unfortunately SOME people are totally irresponsible owners, and ANY dog they own would be similarly dangerous or unruly. The thing is, these types of breeds are just for some reason a favourite choice for the types of people who will make bad owners. I wish to God it wasn't true, but in MY EXPERIENCE IT IS, and the result of it all? DOGS SUFFER. This is for two reasons:
1. Some owners of these dogs haven't a CLUE about the affectionate abilities of their dogs and how their behaviour early on will reflect on their adult characters..... and....
2. The general public's complete IGNORANCE and FLOCK mentality about anything which some editor shoves under their nose every day. Since these people are in far greater numbers than bad owners will ever be, i blame these people even more than the disgraceful owners. Why can't people just be more rational, look at the bigger picture, and make some logical conclusions based on numbers and facts rather than headlines and shocking videos or pictures.
In the UK, the great majority of dog bites are caused by dogs which are part and parcel of our culture and seen generally as 'safe' dogs (there is no such thing, nothing is safe due to its breed type, it is safe due to its individual character, a direct result of its owner.) such as Border Collies, Labradors, Chihuahua, Terriers etc
More importantly, in the ten years since the Dangerous Dogs Act banned the last 4 dogs in the UK (Fila, PB 'type', Dogo Argentino and Japanese Tosa) dog bites have INCREASED BY FIFTY PERCENT.
If anybody still wants to argue that banning breeds is a solution, then i have nothing to respond with, you clearly don't work on the same definition of logic and common sense as i do!
I am all for the public's safety and boy have i seen some dangerous dogs in my time, but have they all been of similar breed type? NO WAY! Most of them were totally 'normal' dogs which we see in every play park in the UK on a daily basis. I know how to make the public safer, and that is to make laws which prevent bad OWNERS, not certain BREEDS.
Thats my opinion, take it or leave it, but please at the very least accept it as coming from someone who walks and talks dogs daily and i have done for years. Also i am someone with two beautiful children in my home (as well as 2 Rottweilers, 2 GSDs, Spaniel and a Dobermann and two Border Collies which often stay with us too) and i would NEVER allow my chlidren to be anywhere near a dog which i can see carries a risky temperament or unpredictable tendencies. My dogs don't, and neither does any other breed of dog, only individuals which i have assessed can be judged by me and advice given based on their behaviour not their colour or gene pool.
It seems mankind looks at Hitler's beliefs and actions as a shameful slur on our species, but then we throw all those learned lessons out the window when we come to dogs? It seems we haven't learned much at all but the difference is dogs can't rise up and shame us very easily, so i fear it will be many decades before people use their heads instead of their headlines to decide the fate of thousands of innocent and beautiful dogs.
I often see the phrase: DEED NOT BREED and i like it, but i prefer... OWNER, NOT BREED, NOR DEED, OWNER OWNER OWNER.
Thanks for your time and a great topic. May dogs one day live and serve in the knowledge and safety of a world where intelligence reigns, and idiots do not.
Martin
www.K9Obedience.co.uk