Link to the Petition....thepetitionsite.com/109/299/942/boycott-dogsbite.org/
The following organizations do not endorse breed specific legislation (BSL), also known as breed discriminatory legislation (BDL). This list is not intended to be comprehensive, as there are numerous other organizations that have publicly voiced that they do not endorse BSL.
The American Bar Association (ABA)
"With nearly 400000 members, the American Bar Association is the one of the largest voluntary professional membership organizations in the world."
“…the American Bar Association urges all state, territorial, and local legislative bodies and governmental agencies to adopt comprehensive breed-neutral dangerous dog/reckless owner laws that ensure due process protections for owners, encourage responsible pet ownership and focus on the behavior of both dog owners and dogs, and to repeal any breed discriminatory or breed
specific provisions.”
Source..... abajournal.com
American Kennel Club (AKC)
“The American Kennel Club supports reasonable, enforceable, non-discriminatory laws to govern the ownership of dogs. The AKC believes that dog owners should be responsible for their dogs.
We support laws that: establish a fair process by which specific dogs are identified as “dangerous” based on stated, measurable actions; impose appropriate penalties on irresponsible owners; and establish a well-defined method for dealing with dogs proven to be dangerous. We believe that, if
necessary, dogs proven to be “dangerous” may need to be humanely destroyed.
The AKC strongly opposes any legislation that determines a dog to be “dangerous” based on specific breeds or phenotypic classes of dogs.
Source..... akc.org
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA)
"The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals® (ASPCA®) was the first humane society to be established in North America and is, today, one of the largest in the world.
Our organization was founded on the belief that animals are entitled to kind and respectful treatment at the hands of humans and must be protected under the law."
“The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals supports reasonable “leash” laws and laws that regulate dogs who have caused unjustifiable injury or who present substantial danger to the public.
However, the ASPCA opposes laws that ban specific breeds of dogs or
that discriminate against particular breeds. These laws unfairly discriminate against responsible dog guardians based solely on their choice of breed. Such laws also fail to achieve the desired goal of stopping illegal activities such as dog fighting, and breeding and/or training dogs to be aggressive.
The ASPCA believes that strict enforcement of laws that ban animal
fighting, and breeding and/or training animals to fight, is the proper
means to address the problem.”
Source..... aspca.org
American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA)
"The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), established in 1863, is a not-for-profit association representing more than 80,000 veterinarians"
“The American Veterinary Medical Association supports dangerous animal legislation by state, county, or municipal governments provided that legislation does not refer to specific breeds or classes of animals.
This legislation should be directed at fostering safety and protection of the general public from animals classified as dangerous.”
Source..... avma.org
American Veterinary Medical Association PRIT (AVMA PLIT)
“The AVMA does not support the adoption of breed specific bans by insurers and does support education programs to teach the public proper safety precautions when dealing with strange or dangerous dogs.”
Source..... avmaplit.com
Animal Farm Foundation (AFF)
“There has never been any evidence that breed bans or restrictions contribute to improved public safety. Regulating breeds puts the focus on the dog, without addressing owner behavior and owner responsibility to the animal and the community.”
Source..... animalfarmfoundation.org
Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT)
“The Association of Pet dog Trainers APDT supports the adoption or enforcement of a program for the control of potentially dangerous or vicious dogs that is fair, non-discriminatory and addresses dogs that are shown to be
dangerous by their actions. The APDT opposes any law that deems a dog as dangerous or vicious based on appearance, breed or phenotype.
Canine temperaments are widely varied, and behavior cannot be predicted
by physical features such as head shape, coat length, muscle to bone ratio, etc. The only predictor of behavior is behavior.
As an organization comprised of dog trainers, behaviorists and other animal professionals, the APDT is fully aware that any dog can bite, any dog can maim, and any dog can kill. A dangerous or vicious dog is a product of a combination of individual genetics, upbringing, socialization, and lack of proper training.
The solution to preventing dog bites is education of owners, breeders, and the general public about aggression prevention, not legislation directed at certain breeds. Singling out and publicly demonizing certain breeds as dangerous is unfair, discriminatory, and does an immense disservice to those breeds and the people who care about them.
Even more chilling, breed specific legislation encourages the faulty public perception of other breeds as being inherently safe. This can lead misguided individuals to engage in unsafe conduct with other breeds that can result in injury or death by individual representatives of those breeds mistakenly perceived as safe.
Also, designating certain breeds as inherently dangerous implies to the public that behavior is not effectively influenced, positively or negatively, by training. This misconception will likely produce a growing number of dangerous dogs as misinformed, complacent dog owners fail to practice responsible aggression-prevention measures.”
Source..... apdt.com
Best Friends Animal Society (BFAS)
“Best Friends opposes breed-discriminatory legislation (also called breed-specific legislation, BSL), which arbitrarily targets particular breeds. Breed-discriminatory laws are not only ineffective at improving community safety, they are extremely expensive to enforce and deplete needed resources from animal control.”
Source.... bestfriends.org
British Veterinary Association (BVA):
“The BVA has…long been opposed in principle to any proposal or legislation that singles out particular breeds of dogs rather than targeting individual aggressive dogs.
The problems caused by dangerous dogs will never be
solved until dog owners appreciate that they are responsible for the actions of their animals."
Source..... bva.co.uk
Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC)
“A CDC study on fatal dog bites lists the breeds involved in fatal attacks over 20 years (Breeds of dogs involved in fatal human attacks in the United States between 1979 and 1998).
It does not identify specific breeds that are most likely to bite or kill, and thus is not appropriate for policy-making decisions related to the topic. Each year,
4.7 million Americans are bitten by dogs.
These bites result in approximately 16 fatalities; about 0.0002 percent of the total number of people bitten. These relatively few fatalities offer the only available information about breeds involved in dog bites.
There is currently no accurate way to identify the number of dogs of a particular breed, and consequently no measure to determine which breeds are more likely to bite or kill.
Many practical alternatives to breed-specific policies exist and hold promise for preventing dog bites. For prevention ideas and model policies for control of dangerous dogs, please see the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA)
Task Force on Canine Aggression and Human-Canine Interactions: A Community Aproach to Dog Bite Prevention.
Source..... avma.org/KB/Resources/A-Community-Approach-to-Dog-Bite-Prevention.aspx
Source..... cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/dog-bites/index.html
Humane Society of the United States (HSUS)
“The HSUS opposes legislation aimed at eradicating or strictly regulating dogs based solely on their breed for a number of reasons. Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) is a common first approach that many communities take.
Thankfully, once research is conducted most community leaders correctly realize that BSL won't solve the problems they face with dangerous dogs. If the goal is to offer communities better protection from dogs who are dangerous, then thoughtful legislation that addresses responsible dog keeping is in order.
Legislation aimed at punishing the owner of the dog rather than punishing the dog is far more effective in reducing the number of dog bites and attacks. Well enforced, non-breed-specific laws offer an effective and fair solution to the problem of dangerous dogs in all communities.
Comprehensive "dog bite" legislation, coupled with better consumer education
and forced responsible pet keeping efforts, would do far more to protect communities than banning a specific breed.
The HSUS encourages you to read the Community Approach to Dog Bite Prevention by the American Veterinary Medical Association. The HSUS is committed to keeping dogs and people safe and is available and willing to offer advice, educational materials and model legislation to communities interested in decreasing the incidence of dog bites and aggression.”
Source..... humanesociety.org
Maryland Veterinary Medical Association
“The Maryland Veterinary Medical Association encourages and supports ordinances that promote responsible pet ownership and at the same time protects the public from dangerous and vicious animals.
We oppose legislation that restricts or prohibits certain breeds of dogs, since we do not believe this is a workable solution.”
Source..... mdvma.org
National Animal Control Association (NACA)
“Dangerous and/or vicious animals should be labeled as such as a result of their actions or behavior and not because of their breed. Any animal may exhibit aggressive behavior regardless of breed.
Accurately identifying a specific animal’s lineage for prosecution purposes may be extremely difficult. Additionally, breed specific legislation may create an undue burden to owners who otherwise have demonstrated proper pet management and responsibility.
Agencies should encourage enactment and stringent enforcement of dangerous/vicious dog laws. When applicable, agencies should not hesitate to prosecute owners for murder, manslaughter, or similar violations resulting from their animal’s actions, and their owner lack of responsibility.
Laws should clearly define “dangerous” or “vicious”, and provide for established penalties. Penalties may include fines, imprisonment, and/or the
relinquishing of total privileges to pet ownership. If a dangerous/vicious animal is allowed to be kept, laws should specify methods of secure confinement and control.
A dangerous/vicious animal when kept outside should be confined in an escape-proof enclosure which is locked and secured on all six sides. Signs should be posted at property entrances and be visible from the nearest sidewalk or street.
The licensing record could include a notation which will immediately identify an animal which has been deemed dangerous or vicious.”
Source..... nacanet.org
National Canine Research Council (NCRC)
“There is no scientifically valid evidence and no reasonable argument to support breed-specific legislation. Instead of discriminating against breeds, take responsibility for dog ownership and management practices.”
Source..... nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com
Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals - Australia (RSPCA):
“The RSPCA does not support breed specific legislation, also known as BSL. Our view, based on the available international scientific evidence, is that any dog may be dangerous and that dogs should not be declared as dangerous’ on the basis of breed.
While we recognise that there is a strong genetic component in a dog’s
propensity for aggressive behaviour, their trigger point for aggression and capacity to inflict serious injury, these factors are not isolated to any specific breed.
The RSPCA does not believe that BSL is in any way effective in
preventing or reducing dog attacks or in protecting the public from dangerous dogs.”
Source..... kb.rspca.org.au
Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals - United Kingdom (RSPCA):
"The focus should be on the other end of the lead - i.e. the owner. This means that any dog can be dangerous in the wrong hands - e.g. mistreated or badly trained — regardless of its breed or type.
For these reasons, the RSPCA is opposed to BSL and would like to see it abolished.”
Source..... rspca.org.uk/
United Kennel Club (UKC)
“United Kennel Club believes that breed specific legislation is a poor choice for communities interested in protecting citizens from dog bites and attacks.
Breed specific legislation, or BSL, is the singling out of a breed or
breeds of dogs to take varying degrees of enforcement action against, in a weak attempt to reduce the numbers of dog attacks.
The majority of BSL is directed at American Pit Bull Terriers, proudly our number two breed, but other breeds such as Rottweilers and Akitas are targeted as well. Realistically, the number of dog bites nationwide has been fairly consistent over the last century, and there has not been any meaningful increase.
Attempting to attribute bites to a single breed and labeling that breed is fruitless, as there exists no real, factual data to show that any one breed is more responsible for bites and attacks than others. Singling out a breed to attach blame does not work to decrease dog attacks.
Case in point, the Dutch government has lifted a 15-year ban on ‘pit bulls’ because there has not been ANY decrease in dog bites. There are many other factors at play behind dog attacks, such as the purpose the dog is used for, owner management and maintenance, neglect or cruelty factors, and other variables such as sex, age, socialization, etc., that are not breed related.
Not only is BSL ineffective, it also increases costs to cities and communities to enforce these laws and defend the laws against challenges in court. Some cities have overturned long standing bans due to a dramatic increase in enforcement costs and an influx to animal control; the economic impact was far too great. BSL is also extremely difficult to enforce.
Many laws and ordinances either do not correctly identify what breeds are included, or are overly vague. Often these laws include mixes of the listed breeds as well. There currently exists no legally accepted scientific method to
positively identify breeds or mixes, and many breeds look very similar, specially to the general public.
While even professionals have difficulty in identifying what a mix may be comprised of, inexperienced law enforcement officials with no dog background are expected to identify mixtures, and end up with arbitrary and often incorrect
identifications.
BSL results in punishing and ultimately driving away responsible owners of the targeted breed(s) while having little to no impact on the actual cause of problems, those using dogs for illegal or immoral purposes.
Instead of enacting BSL, communities should be more aggressive in enforcement of dangerous dog, anti-fighting, and anti-cruelty statutes. More emphasis must be placed on owner responsibility, as the majority of attacks are
due to owner neglect or mistreatment.
Targeting the actions and non-action of owners will be more effective and
sensible in realistically decreasing dog attacks.”
Source..... ukcdogs.com
United States Department of Justice (DOJ)
“The Department [of Justice] does not believe that it is either appropriate or consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to defer to local laws that prohibit certain breeds of dogs based on local concerns that these breeds may have a history of unprovoked aggression or attacks.
Such deference would have the effect of limiting the rights of persons with disabilities under the ADA who use certain service animals based on where
they live rather than on whether the use of a particular animal poses a direct threat to the health and safety of others [...].
State and local government entities have the ability to determine, on a case- by-case basis, whether a particular service animal can be excluded based on that particular animal s actual behavior or history — not based on fears or generalizations about how an animal or breed might behave.
This ability to exclude an animal whose behavior or history evidences a direct threat is sufficient to protechealth and safety.”
Source..... ada.gov/regs
The White House Administration:
“We don't support breed-specific legislation — research shows that bans on certain types of dogs are largely ineffective and often a waste of public resources.”
Source.... whitehouse.gov
The reason Breed specific legislation is being legislated against & repealed is quite simply because it doesn't make communities safer as indicated overwhelming in all the legitimate science based data & information.....
If you conduct a google search keywords.....
"does breed specific legislation make communities safer".....
"About 19,100,000 results
Humane Society: No evidence breed-specific legislation makes ...
"What we know is that there is no evidence that breed-specific legislation makes communities safer for people or companion animals.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the inaccuracy of dog bite-data and inaccuracy of breed identification make breed specific legislation costly, difficult to enforce and generally ineffective. Most often it’s a knee jerk reaction to a tragedy that is more likely to be the fault of individual humans, not whole breeds or types of dogs.
Michelle Thevenin is the executive director of Humane Society for Greater Savannah.
She can be reached by phone at 912-354-9515, ext. 105, or by email at mthevenin@humanesocietysav.org.
Are Breed-Specific Laws Effective? | ASPCApro
Are Breed-Specific Laws Effective?
"There is no evidence that breed-specific laws, which are costly and difficult to enforce, make communities safer for people or companion animals. For example, Prince George's County, MD, spends more than $250,000 annually to enforce its ban on pit bulls.
In 2003, a study conducted by the county on the ban's effectiveness noted that "public safety is not improved as a result of [the ban]," and that "there is no transgression committed by owner or animal that is not covered by another, non-breed specific portion of the Animal Control Code (i.e., vicious animal, nuisance animal, leash laws)."
Following a thorough study of human fatalities resulting from dog bites, the United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) decided not to support BSL. The CDC cited, among other problems, the inaccuracy of dog bite data and the difficulty in identifying dog breeds (especially true of mixed-breed dogs).
The CDC also noted the likelihood that as certain breeds are regulated, those who exploit dogs by making them aggressive will replace them with other, unregulated breeds."
Experts United: Breed Specific Legislation Does Not Work – BARKS ...
- “BSL results in punishing and ultimately driving away responsible owners of the targeted breed(s) while having little to no impact on the actual cause of problems, those using dogs for illegal or immoral purposes.
- Instead of enacting BSL, communities should be more aggressive in enforcement of dangerous dog, anti-fighting, and anti-cruelty statutes. More emphasis must be placed on owner responsibility, as the majority of attacks are due to owner neglect or mistreatment.
- Targeting the actions and non-action of owners will be more effective and sensible in realistically decreasing dog attacks.” (United Kennel Club, 2016)."
[PDF]Community Safety Through Breed Bans? - Animal Studies Repository
The website DogsBite dot Org lists only pit bull-specific attacks under their “Dog Attacks” header and seems to capitalize on the readers fear by sensationalizing headings.
In the Google search, after two pages of skimming, the 20th article was about a Labrador mix that mauled a child. Most stories report dog attacks and rarely name the breed unless the alleged breed is a pit bull type.
According to the National Canine Research Council (2013) “Reporters are not specialists. They may report as fact what are really opinions, or cite official statements and/or published studies that experts have called into serious question.
In order to make predictions about dog behavior and breed, the following four statements must be true:
1. Breeds must be identifiable
2. Behavior must be predictable according to breed
3. Predictable breed-based behavior must be relevant to companion dog’s characteristics
4. Behavior must be predictable according to physical characteristics independent of breed.
RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
There is lack of consistency or true journalism in the media as it pertains to alleged dog attacks. Veterinary scholars, canine experts, and even the American Bar Association (ABA) and Department of Justice (DOJ) have proven that these details being reported are skewed. However, reports are printed in the media leading other reporters to draw from other reporters’ data or opinion pieces, leading to the mistrust of these dogs.
Such reports lead the general public to fear certain dogs based on what they have read, and it contributes to a troublesome cycle of misinformation being released. Paul Pierson (2004) stated in “Politics of Time” that the “best case for connecting history to social sciences is neither empirical…nor methodological…but rather theoretical. We turn to an examination of history because social life unfolds over time.
Real social processes have distinct temporal dimensions” (p. 5). As these dog articles present themselves in the media, a case is being built against pit a bull-type dog that is founded in the opinions of newspaper journalists rather than being rooted in science-based data provided by experts such as Veterinarians and Animal Behaviorists.
To date, there has not been a single peer-reviewed journal or study that has proven that one breed or mixed breed of dog is inherently more dangerous, or that Breed Specific laws reduce dog bites.
However, countless opinion pieces surface in a generic Internet search on these topics. Drayton Michaels believes the crux of the issue is behind using harsh aversive training methods, such as the use of shock collars, choke or force. If people avoided using these methods of training, 90% of dog-related issues would disappear.
He believes that the reason we use pain and fear and force with dogs is because trainers and dog owners can get away with it. If morality and safety are taken off the table, the behavioral problem is that fear generalizes extremely well for dogs since they are evolutionally built for survival. Dogs generalize fear easily.
This is the reality of the dangers from a behavioral standpoint. The American Veterinary Society for Behavior (AVSAB) conducted a test of shock collars on dogs and found that only 20% of the dogs who were shocked showed little change, but 80% of the dogs became fearful and aggressive or shut down.
CONCLUSION
Stigmatizing of dogs has lasting effects and carries over into many areas of dog ownership, rescue, shelter, and advocacy work. It becomes challenging for a dog owner to defend their dog to the public if the public has a preconception of what their dog is, or is not.
Educating the public that all dogs can bite, most dog bites can be prevented, and that there is no dog breed more dangerous than another can help reduce shelter overpopulation, redirect tax dollars to programs that can truly keep communities safe, and can help fund spay and neuter programs for Public 'Policy for all income levels.
Solutions such as these can have sweeping positive effects on communities in both the short and long run.
Lastly, to date, breed specific bans have not proven to reduce dog bites. Rather, enforcement of existing leash laws, enforcement of non-breed specific dangerous dog ordinances and cruelty laws can solve the majority of problems relating to dog bites in communities.
More to come.....
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