Dangerous Dogs

They are a problem, and we need to address that problem right now

"I had a pit bull named Buddy for six years. I got him when he was a puppy and loved him until the day he died. Looking into his liquid brown eyes, it was impossible not to see the love he held for me. But in his eyes, too, was the look he gave my cats and any other animal.

"One day my husband, Buddy, and I went next door to visit my brother. Buddy ran behind my brother's home and killed his cat. A year later, he was accidentally let out and killed the neighbors terrier, who was on his front porch minding his own business. 

"Not all pit bulls are bad, but because of their breeding they do have a higher percentage of bad than do most breeds.

Please do not allow people who are unaware of what these animals are capable of to bring them into their lives and  homes without being totally prepared."

Lisa Harmon
Fellsmere, Florida

That letter appeared in the previous edition of Best Friends magazine (July 2006).

What happened at Lisa Harmon's home is unusual. But almost every day, there are reports of attacks by dogs on people and other animals. And the attacks are by no means all from pit bulls, but by dogs of many breeds who have by now been inbred with aggressive tendencies.

Sometimes they are beloved pets who suddenly and inexplicably turn on their people. That's what happened to Shelley Bertrand, of Long Beach, California, who has just completed a series of reconstructive surgeries after she lost much of her upper lip to Dojsa, the family pet pit bull. Dojsa was taken to the local shelter and destroyed.

Banning entire breeds
All across the country, local authorities are beginning to take matters into their own hands - often by banning pit bulls and other breeds altogether.

In some cities, like Denver, Colorado, they're even going door-to-door, simply rounding up dogs who fit the breed profile, taking them away, and killing them.

Most animal welfare  organizations, including Best Friends, are against this breed-specific legislation (or BSL). It doesn't work, and for many reasons. Just for starters, if people want a dangerous dog, theyre going to get one. And if one breed is being banned or going out of fashion, theyll just work up a new breed that fits their need.

Indeed, that's exactly what's happened over and over again. Pit bulls, for example, used to be America's sweetheart breed. (Remember the Buster Brown mascot?) Back then, the dangerous breeds were German shepherds, then Dobermans and Rottweilers.

But simply saying that breed bans are ineffective, without offering a real alternative, is not going to work.  Indeed, it leaves the animal welfare world looking like it's out of touch with the real world.

Right now, the animal welfare movement needs to get serious about this whole issue and get out in front of it before thousands more dogs are rounded up and killed, all to no avail.

That means focusing in on the root cause of the problem, which is that certain people are deliberately breeding aggressive tendencies into dogs. Those people are the aggressors, and the rest of us, including the dogs theyve bred, are the victims.

A three-point plan
Best Friends is putting together a national initiative that addresses the basic problem of people breeding aggressive dogs:
" It acknowledges that there are dangerous breeds, and that aggressive tendencies have now been bred into their genes.
" It includes legislation making it illegal to breed aggression into dogs.
" It goes after the people who are breeding aggressive dogs, rather than simply the dogs themselves.

All three of these things have already been done in Europe, and those measures are working. 

A Best Friends summit
Best Friends is holding an emergency summit conference this fall in Lakewood, Colorado, to explore this issue.

This summit seeks to build momentum for a national movement to bring an end to the increasing problem of dangerous dogs. We're doing this not only to protect people from dogs, but also to protect innocent dogs from people who are becoming more alarmed and more irrational. Details about the summit are at network.bestfriends.org/dangerousdogs. Please join us..