I have a friend who has a pit bull/german shepard mix. I love that dog. I really do. He's very sweet and loves to play. Since having enjoyed getting to know this pit bull, I have been researching what is known as Breed Specific Legislation. To give you the short version of the story, some bad dog owners raised pit bulls to be overly aggressive and uncontrollable, which has in turn led to some attacks against people (often against the owners at whose hands the dogs were mistreated and neglected in the first place.) Now the entire breed has such bad P.R. that many cities, towns, and municipalities have outlawed the ownership of pit bulls altogether. Think of it as canine racism. There are no bad dogs, just bad dog owners. Any dog can be aggressive, no matter it's size or breed. I happen to know a very unfriendly chihuahua, but you won't see any laws against those little guys. Pit bulls are a strong and powerful breed. So if a big dog like a pit bull becomes aggressive, of course it will do more damage than an aggressive chihuahua. That's why responsible dog ownership combined with early training and socialization are essential to all dog breeds, especially powerful breeds like the pit bull, rottweiler, german shepard, husky, labrador, etc. There should not be laws against a dog who has not done anything wrong. Many pit bulls are being sent to shelters and unable to be adopted back out because of where they are located. For instance, if a pit bull is in a shelter here in Florissant where I live, I would not be able to adopt him because Florissant has passed a BSL law against pit bulls. He would be put down all because of his breed. Unfair? Yes. If I lived in St Louis City or in other parts of the St Louis area, I would be allowed to give him a home and save him from certain death in the high-kill ratio shelter here in Florissant. Unfortunately for myself and some dog out there, I am currently under-employed and do not have the finances to adopt a dog in need. (sidenote: if the Florissant Animal Control Department picks up your dog as a stray, you only have 10 days to claim him before he is euthanized)
I am asking you to not support Breed Specific Legislation. If your town or county brings it up at the polls in November, please vote NO. The damage has already been done here in Florissant as well as in Ferguson, Clayton, Jennings, and others. Below is a link to a list of counties, cities, and towns the Metro St. Louis area and their current laws regarding BSL. (Mutts & Stuff is located in St Charles which won the victory and voted against BSL in their county)
http://www.muttsandstuff.com/bsl.php
For more info on BSL, check this link below:
http://www.pbrc.net/breedspecific.html
If you want to join me in contacting the Florissant Health Department about their current BSL, the link is below.
http://www.florissantmo.com/PW/health/index.shtml
Please don't let these great, loyal, family dogs be outlawed and hated for being born a pit bull. It's not their fault. (type "pit bull bsl" into youtube and you'll find a wealth of videos dedicated to restoring the breed's good name)
