I just wrote a paper for my composition class about breed specific legislation and i was wondering if anyone would like to read it.. tell me if anything's wrong and what i could improve or whatever.. or lol maybe there's no need for anything which i doubt.
well i couldn't really put the file here so i'll just copy paste.
Kongzong Lo
Antonio Daniels
1013 ENGL
May 7, 2007
Are Pit Bulls Really too Dangerous?
"BSL is nothing more than breed profiling and as of yet it has not worked to curb the amount of serious dog attacks it was put in place to stop" (www.pitbulllovers.com, 2007). Breed Specific Legislation, or BSL are a set of laws that restricts breeds of dog or completely bans the breed from an area. BSL has banned the American Pit Bull Terrier from multiple states in America, and even some European countries. In this essay I will prove the unnecessity of BSL. This essay will go more in depth on what BSL is all about, it will educate the readers about the American Pit Bull Terrier breed and the pit bull family as a whole, and it will provide possible alternatives.
Breed Specific Legislation made its first notable appearance in 1984. "In 1984, a New Mexico town completely banned pit bulls and allowed county officers to confiscate and euthanize the dogs" (www.animallaw.info, 2007). BSL was made to try to regulate specific breeds of dogs. Usually, BSL targets breeds that are thought of as dangerous breeds. Proponents of BSL claim that BSL is a great way to reduce the threatening pit bull breed (www.animallaw.info, 2007). People who support BSL usually have imagined pit bulls as vicious dogs bred just to fight. BSL is slowly being seen as ineffective laws because leaders of communities are being educated more about pit bulls.
Pit bulls are not necessarily a breed of dog. Pit bulls are a category of dogs more than a breed. Pit bull usually groups 3 breeds of dog, "the American Pit Bull Terrier (APBT), American Staffordshire Terrier (AMSTAFF), and the Staffordshire Bull Terrier (STAFFIE)" (www.understand-a-bull.com, 2007). Pit bulls have been given a bad reputation because of all the media and press that pit bulls have been in. The truth behind all of this media is that dogs of all breeds are just as capable as pit bulls to bite humans. "Quite often dogs that attack are identified as pit bulls when they are not" (www.understand-a-bull.com, 2007). This is another case in which media has made pit bulls seem like an animal that they are not. Many stories of pit bulls are really made by other dogs, but because pit bulls attract more people news stations and papers just change the story to fit the pit bull criteria. One example of this happening is a news report titled "Pit Bull attacks 12 year old" from Kansas City, MO (www.understand-a-bull.com, 2007). In this report there was a picture of the dog who bit the 12 year old being captured, but because the dog did not look like a pit bull they simply removed the picture and kept the story the same (www.understand-a-bull.com, 2007). Another case of pit bull media is the stories of heroic pit bulls that never reach the public. After reading about the 12 year old who got bit by a pit bull everyone gets the image of a vicious animal, but what if the story was about a hero? That would change the image, but the only problem is these stories barely reach the public. Stories much like the story "Slain pit bull dies a hero" which tells the story of a pit bull named Benny from Oakland who attacks a man trying to mug his master at gunpoint and gets shot protecting his master. If the media could show the truth behind pit bulls then maybe the public will stop thinking of pit bulls as dogs who are breed just to fight.
"According to the latest statistics, pit bulls do not top the chart when it comes to deadly dog attacks" (www.pitbullsontheweb.com, 2007). Statistics will vary between studies and statistics can not determine if a breed is more capable of harming a human. Pit bulls are just like any other dog. They are born the same and grow the same, but it's the owners who differ. Statistics may show that dogs bite, but that gives no information as to why they bite. Just because pit bulls are on the list does not mean that all pit bulls are going to bite people. It's because of irresponsible humans that there are dogs who bite people. "Dogs are not the problem and BSL does not recognize this. People are the problem and until we find a way to punish people for their neglectful actions which allow dogs to bite and terrorize the public we will never stop the problem" (www.pitbulllovers.com, 2007). Anybody who knows anything about dogs knows that the problem usually isn't the dog, but the people who take care of these dogs. So how does banning dogs keep these people from finding a different dog breed that could be potentially more dangerous to the community? It doesn't, the ban only hurts the dogs that have done nothing but try to live a normal life.
A normal life would be what all dogs are going for. For that to happen Breed Specific Legislation would have to be abolished. People should be educated and learn that these laws are "unconstitutional" (Frabotta, David 1). An alternative to BSL is to make more strict laws towards punishing the humans who so irresponsibly handle the dogs. It should not be the dogs who are blamed for everything. Although, I agree that "euthanizing a dangerous dog that has injured or killed any person or domestic animal more than once" is not too unconstitutional, but doing that to a breed simply just because it is that breed is unconstitutional (Frabotta 1). As stated before, how does making laws against dogs stop the people from introducing a different more dangerous dog. In the past many different dogs have been noted as the more aggressive types of dogs. "In the past 40 years, German shepherds have given way to Doberman, then Rottweilers and now pit bulls in the progression of aggressive dogs" (Weise, Elizabeth 1). So after the pit bulls are all banned what breed could be next? Well, "after the infamous 2001 case in which two Presa Canario dogs killed San Francisco lacrosse teacher Diane Whipple, 33, on the threshold of her apartment, Straw says breeders immediately started getting calls. "They wanted 'that dog that would kill'" (Weise 1). This is only a never ending cycle as long as there are owners who think dogs that are aggressive are the better dogs.
Breed Specific Legislation, it makes no difference what breed of dog is banned; the ban only gives the people who want dangerous dogs a different choice in dog breed to kill and harm people, and other animals. If BSL had banned pit bulls another breed of dog would emerge, and this new breed could be just as dangerous or even more dangerous. Then, the only way to really make people safe from dogs would be to ban all dogs, but what does that accomplish: nothing. If BSL had banned pit bulls what would have happened to people like the owner of Benny who was saved by his pit bull. The very existence of pit bulls is threatened by BSL; the very existence of all dogs is threatened by BSL.
Works Cited
Frabotta, David. "Pit Bulls bear brunt of breed bans." DVM: The Newsmagaine of
Veterinary Medicine. January, 2005: p1S-1S, 1/3p.
Weise, Elizabeth. "Pit bull: Canine non grata." USA Today. 08/23/2005: Page 06d.
PitBulls on the Web. Chesser, Veronique. 2007: PitBulls on The Web. May 7, 2007
http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/
The Most Complete Pit Bull Website for Owners on the Web. Mann, Jason. 2005:
Pitbulllovers. May 7, 2007 http://www.pitbulllovers.com/
Punish the Deed, not the Breed! 2005. May 7, 2007 http://www.understand-a-bull.com/
Michigan State University College of Law. Favre, David. 2007: Michigan State
University. May 7, 2007 http://www.animallaw.info/
well i couldn't really put the file here so i'll just copy paste.
Kongzong Lo
Antonio Daniels
1013 ENGL
May 7, 2007
Are Pit Bulls Really too Dangerous?
"BSL is nothing more than breed profiling and as of yet it has not worked to curb the amount of serious dog attacks it was put in place to stop" (www.pitbulllovers.com, 2007). Breed Specific Legislation, or BSL are a set of laws that restricts breeds of dog or completely bans the breed from an area. BSL has banned the American Pit Bull Terrier from multiple states in America, and even some European countries. In this essay I will prove the unnecessity of BSL. This essay will go more in depth on what BSL is all about, it will educate the readers about the American Pit Bull Terrier breed and the pit bull family as a whole, and it will provide possible alternatives.
Breed Specific Legislation made its first notable appearance in 1984. "In 1984, a New Mexico town completely banned pit bulls and allowed county officers to confiscate and euthanize the dogs" (www.animallaw.info, 2007). BSL was made to try to regulate specific breeds of dogs. Usually, BSL targets breeds that are thought of as dangerous breeds. Proponents of BSL claim that BSL is a great way to reduce the threatening pit bull breed (www.animallaw.info, 2007). People who support BSL usually have imagined pit bulls as vicious dogs bred just to fight. BSL is slowly being seen as ineffective laws because leaders of communities are being educated more about pit bulls.
Pit bulls are not necessarily a breed of dog. Pit bulls are a category of dogs more than a breed. Pit bull usually groups 3 breeds of dog, "the American Pit Bull Terrier (APBT), American Staffordshire Terrier (AMSTAFF), and the Staffordshire Bull Terrier (STAFFIE)" (www.understand-a-bull.com, 2007). Pit bulls have been given a bad reputation because of all the media and press that pit bulls have been in. The truth behind all of this media is that dogs of all breeds are just as capable as pit bulls to bite humans. "Quite often dogs that attack are identified as pit bulls when they are not" (www.understand-a-bull.com, 2007). This is another case in which media has made pit bulls seem like an animal that they are not. Many stories of pit bulls are really made by other dogs, but because pit bulls attract more people news stations and papers just change the story to fit the pit bull criteria. One example of this happening is a news report titled "Pit Bull attacks 12 year old" from Kansas City, MO (www.understand-a-bull.com, 2007). In this report there was a picture of the dog who bit the 12 year old being captured, but because the dog did not look like a pit bull they simply removed the picture and kept the story the same (www.understand-a-bull.com, 2007). Another case of pit bull media is the stories of heroic pit bulls that never reach the public. After reading about the 12 year old who got bit by a pit bull everyone gets the image of a vicious animal, but what if the story was about a hero? That would change the image, but the only problem is these stories barely reach the public. Stories much like the story "Slain pit bull dies a hero" which tells the story of a pit bull named Benny from Oakland who attacks a man trying to mug his master at gunpoint and gets shot protecting his master. If the media could show the truth behind pit bulls then maybe the public will stop thinking of pit bulls as dogs who are breed just to fight.
"According to the latest statistics, pit bulls do not top the chart when it comes to deadly dog attacks" (www.pitbullsontheweb.com, 2007). Statistics will vary between studies and statistics can not determine if a breed is more capable of harming a human. Pit bulls are just like any other dog. They are born the same and grow the same, but it's the owners who differ. Statistics may show that dogs bite, but that gives no information as to why they bite. Just because pit bulls are on the list does not mean that all pit bulls are going to bite people. It's because of irresponsible humans that there are dogs who bite people. "Dogs are not the problem and BSL does not recognize this. People are the problem and until we find a way to punish people for their neglectful actions which allow dogs to bite and terrorize the public we will never stop the problem" (www.pitbulllovers.com, 2007). Anybody who knows anything about dogs knows that the problem usually isn't the dog, but the people who take care of these dogs. So how does banning dogs keep these people from finding a different dog breed that could be potentially more dangerous to the community? It doesn't, the ban only hurts the dogs that have done nothing but try to live a normal life.
A normal life would be what all dogs are going for. For that to happen Breed Specific Legislation would have to be abolished. People should be educated and learn that these laws are "unconstitutional" (Frabotta, David 1). An alternative to BSL is to make more strict laws towards punishing the humans who so irresponsibly handle the dogs. It should not be the dogs who are blamed for everything. Although, I agree that "euthanizing a dangerous dog that has injured or killed any person or domestic animal more than once" is not too unconstitutional, but doing that to a breed simply just because it is that breed is unconstitutional (Frabotta 1). As stated before, how does making laws against dogs stop the people from introducing a different more dangerous dog. In the past many different dogs have been noted as the more aggressive types of dogs. "In the past 40 years, German shepherds have given way to Doberman, then Rottweilers and now pit bulls in the progression of aggressive dogs" (Weise, Elizabeth 1). So after the pit bulls are all banned what breed could be next? Well, "after the infamous 2001 case in which two Presa Canario dogs killed San Francisco lacrosse teacher Diane Whipple, 33, on the threshold of her apartment, Straw says breeders immediately started getting calls. "They wanted 'that dog that would kill'" (Weise 1). This is only a never ending cycle as long as there are owners who think dogs that are aggressive are the better dogs.
Breed Specific Legislation, it makes no difference what breed of dog is banned; the ban only gives the people who want dangerous dogs a different choice in dog breed to kill and harm people, and other animals. If BSL had banned pit bulls another breed of dog would emerge, and this new breed could be just as dangerous or even more dangerous. Then, the only way to really make people safe from dogs would be to ban all dogs, but what does that accomplish: nothing. If BSL had banned pit bulls what would have happened to people like the owner of Benny who was saved by his pit bull. The very existence of pit bulls is threatened by BSL; the very existence of all dogs is threatened by BSL.
Works Cited
Frabotta, David. "Pit Bulls bear brunt of breed bans." DVM: The Newsmagaine of
Veterinary Medicine. January, 2005: p1S-1S, 1/3p.
Weise, Elizabeth. "Pit bull: Canine non grata." USA Today. 08/23/2005: Page 06d.
PitBulls on the Web. Chesser, Veronique. 2007: PitBulls on The Web. May 7, 2007
http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/
The Most Complete Pit Bull Website for Owners on the Web. Mann, Jason. 2005:
Pitbulllovers. May 7, 2007 http://www.pitbulllovers.com/
Punish the Deed, not the Breed! 2005. May 7, 2007 http://www.understand-a-bull.com/
Michigan State University College of Law. Favre, David. 2007: Michigan State
University. May 7, 2007 http://www.animallaw.info/