ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

BSL and American Pit Bull Terriers

Updated on April 8, 2012
American Pit Bull Terrier.
American Pit Bull Terrier.

I thought in light of the current situation with NFL star Michael Vick, I would voice my opinions of BSL, breed specific legislation, and pit bull in general. When I use the term 'pit bull' it will encompass all bully breed dogs that are pit bull, pit bull mixes, american staffordshire terriers, and any mix thereof.

I will go ahead and say I am by a long shot, biased towards pit bulls. I have worked with many pitbull who were CGC certified, pet therapy certified, and dog trainer's assistants. I have owned two pitbulls, and been very close with other pit bulls.

Now, breed specific legislation involves the banning of certain breeds, normally including pit bull, chow chows, rottweilers, dobermans, and sometimes huskies, shepherds and akitas. Other time, various other dog breeds have been included into the mix. The legislation tends to say that these breeds are not allowed in a particular state period. But, sometimes they will add a clause that says if you have owned one of the breeds listed, for a designated time, you can keep your dog, but they will give you many rules in order to do so. The dog must be leashed at all times, wear a muzzle if in public, etc. All rules that further 'this is a bad dog and a worse breed. So be aware.'

I disagree. There are bad owners not bad breeds.

Any dog can become aggressive. Any dog can become dog aggressive. Any dog can become food aggressive. Toy aggressive. And even human aggressive.

I have a dog who has possession agression, dog aggression, and is semi human aggressive. This dog was not trained to be so, and this dog is not a bully breed dog. It is a yorkshire terrier!

Female pitbull playing nicely with another female dog.
Female pitbull playing nicely with another female dog.

Many say that pit bulls are naturally aggressive or will turn no matter what. Not true. I will admit there are cases that this happens, but not the majority of the time. Banning breeds that have the bad reputations, means that the good owners are punished, while the bad owners move to a state that allows the breed.

Pitbulls were once nanny dogs. They were family pets. They were house pets. They were loves members of the family. They were fighting dogs.

These dogs had two jobs, (1) fight other dogs and (2) be family pet. If they showed any signs of aggression to the family or any person, they were put down. Human aggression was highly frowned upon even in these dogs. So, why is it that today, the majority of mankind assumes that these bully breed dogs will attack them?

Media.

Media catches ahold of dog bite, and immediately publishes it as a pit bull attack before knowing any details. They never go back to retract the story.

How fair is that for the dog?

Why is it that even pitbull rescues have mixed emotions and opinions about the dogs they are rescuing? Why is it that they tell people that pitbulls do not get along with other dogs of the same sex? When I have two females- a pit and a mix- that get along great. Why do they tell people that young pitbulls should not be housed with young children? When they WERE nanny dogs to children in history.

Why is that they when most people think of pitbull, they think visciousness? When in reality there are many noted pitbulls in military history for search and rescue and therapy dogs. When several years back, Petey from 'The Little Rascals' was the pitbull of the times.

Why is the all American, AMERICAN PIT BULL TERRIER is now treated like the plague?

Bad owners. Bad reps.

Not the individual dog's fault.

"Yes I am a pitbull, get over it!"
"Yes I am a pitbull, get over it!"

What's not understood in today's society is that dog bites are all pit bull. Labs, terriers, retrievers, are ALL on record for biting. Those aren't publicized, as it would ruin their reputation as a 'good dog'.

What's not understood is that there are literally thousands upon thousands, probably near millions of pit bulls (remember this includes mixes, AmStaffs, etc) running around America today. Outside dogs. Inside dogs. Strays. Etc. There are bound to be pit bull bites. Statistically the higher number of an individual breed, the more likely to have dog bites occur.

Plus, statistically, APBT's are the least likely breed to bite. Not saying that it doesn't happen... I'm just saying...

Personally, I have one dalmation, one mutt, one yorkie, one St Bernard/ collie mix, and one APBT. Of all my dogs, I trust the APBT most. The dalmatian is hyper and a tad unpredictable. The mutt is very old in age, and becoming senile. The yorkie is semi-aggressive on different levels. The St. Bernard/collie mix is slightly food and toy aggressive, and will jump on another dog if it cries. The APBT, even though a puppy, is quickly learning her boundaries as a pet; she's had less training than the other dogs, and is just as responsive if not more at times.

I strongly believe that breed specific legislation is NOT the way to go when it comes to fixing the problem of dog attacks. What needs to be push is education. Education of proper dog ownership needs to be stressed upon Americans today. This would not only help correct bad dog behaviors, but shelter dog numbers. The fewer badly behaved or misunderstood dogs, the fewer dogs that are admitted to a shelter. The fewer dogs admitted to a shelter, lowers the number of euthanized dogs in America.

Dogs are supposed to be man's best friend. Why don't we treat them that way?

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)