Dog Breeders?
#16
Re: Dog Breeders?
This is a worry I have. Our cat came from the animal control and now that we're starting the search for a second dog it crossed my mind to go there for the dog. The problem though is that the people at the Humane Society and the pound fail to differentiate between scruffy dogs in need of care and lethal animals in need of shooting. Right up until the pit bull ban one could even adopt one of those from the Humane Society; now they send them to eat the children in BC. I have no faith that the staff at the dog shelter would reveal anything indicating a dog to be dangerous.
#19
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 7,715
Re: Dog Breeders?
But the consequences of a pit bull or similar breed from a bad home are a bit more serious than say a basset hound or a greyhound from a bad home, aren't they? I'm asking cos I don't really know. (I prefer houseplants.)
#21
Re: Dog Breeders?
AX - sorry to hear about your pooch, and your efforts to rehome a previously mis-treated animal - I wasn't implying that you were a bad owner, merely that the dog had previously had a 'bad' owner which resulted in the behaviour issues which you were sadly unable to resolve.
HWP - you're right in that the ramifications of being attacked by a pit bull are greater than other breeds partly because they're terriers, and will never let go/give up, and also because of their jaw/bite strength. In terms of liklihood of attack, I think the stats in the UK a few years back were that most attacks by family pets on family members were by black labs, of all things!
Unfortunately the pit bull has been mis-used, mis-treated, and badly bred to accenuate negative certain traits, by an element of society who is attracted to having a fighting dog. By wiping out that breed, you're not actually changing the anti-social human element at all - they'll just move on to another breed, and so on. As the kennel club suggests on its site "Adding the Rottweiler to the Dangerous Dogs Act is likely to worsen the situation, as a minority are likely to take an unhealthy interest in another breed that is given the official label ‘Dangerous Dog’ as we have seen to be the case since the ban on Pitbull Terriers."
Incidentally, in the UK the maximum penalty for dog-fighting is six months in prison and a £5000 fine. Not much of a price to pay for those who actually get caught - meanwhile the dog pays with its life. Perhaps in a few years they'll be using minature poodles, and we'll all be warned about the dangers of them!
Don't actually know why they don't bring back dog licenses in the UK - just had to buy one here for our dog, $60 for the year, which helps fund the warden and pound.
HWP - you're right in that the ramifications of being attacked by a pit bull are greater than other breeds partly because they're terriers, and will never let go/give up, and also because of their jaw/bite strength. In terms of liklihood of attack, I think the stats in the UK a few years back were that most attacks by family pets on family members were by black labs, of all things!
Unfortunately the pit bull has been mis-used, mis-treated, and badly bred to accenuate negative certain traits, by an element of society who is attracted to having a fighting dog. By wiping out that breed, you're not actually changing the anti-social human element at all - they'll just move on to another breed, and so on. As the kennel club suggests on its site "Adding the Rottweiler to the Dangerous Dogs Act is likely to worsen the situation, as a minority are likely to take an unhealthy interest in another breed that is given the official label ‘Dangerous Dog’ as we have seen to be the case since the ban on Pitbull Terriers."
Incidentally, in the UK the maximum penalty for dog-fighting is six months in prison and a £5000 fine. Not much of a price to pay for those who actually get caught - meanwhile the dog pays with its life. Perhaps in a few years they'll be using minature poodles, and we'll all be warned about the dangers of them!
Don't actually know why they don't bring back dog licenses in the UK - just had to buy one here for our dog, $60 for the year, which helps fund the warden and pound.