Reigning Cats and Dogs: A now ... a word from Henry about BSL

Friday, April 29, 2011

For a great example of a better possibility, please click here

(Thanks Joan for taking the time and trouble to put that together.)

BSL is NOT the Path to Public Safety because:

Many dogs are misidentified and consequently destroyed because of their apprearance
It is often difficult, even for experts, to determine the breed of a dog, particularly when considering mixed breed dogs
Breed -discrimination laws cause unintended hardship to responsible owners of friendly dogs who happen to fall within the regulated breed category
Breed -discriminatory laws compromise public safety by requiring officers to enforce regulations on dogs who may or may not be dangerous, instead of investing resources into proven, effective tactics that make the community safer
Every dog is an individual, with his or her own unique personality. A dog should be judged on temperment and not appearance.
The police and animal control will lose the public's trust by seizing and killing pets simply because of their appearance
Studies of pre and post-breed-ban dog bite rates in the United Kingdom and Spain concluded that their breed discriminatory laws had no effect whatsoever on reducing dog bites.
Italy recently revoked its breed restrictions, stating that the ban had no scientific justification.
Closer to home, Calgary has the lowest dog bite rates in 25 years without enacting breed discrimination.
Last but definitely not least, here in Nova Scotia it will create a conflict for any SPCA shelters who perform contractual work for animal control, given the SPCA official position of No Kill.

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