Breed Specific Legislation (BSL)
Imagine having your best friend torn from your life. Imagine your best friends are imprisoned, even though one is elderly and sick. Brian experienced this: Oggi was imprisoned because he looked a certain way, and his elderly father, Zack, who was deaf, partially blind, and reliant on daily medication due to the many strokes he had suffered, was dragged to along with him. Thanks to the help of the community, Zack was quickly released but Oggi was in prison for eight months before finally being released to his paraplegic, wheelchair-bound, and now clinically depressed owner, Brian. Zack and Oggi are dogs. The sad truth is that Brian, Zack and Oggi were lucky. Breed Specific Legislation (BSL), a law introduced in 1991 banning the ownership of
…show more content…
Behaviour is a very complex issue, one that can’t be judged by species. A report completed by Battersea Cats and Dogs Home revealed that 74% of 215 experts agreed that that breed was not important or slightly important as a reason for why dogs attack. 86% agreed that upbringing was extremely important. Professor Daniel S Mills (European and RCVS recognised Specialist in Veterinary Behavioural Medicine) states: “Not only is there a lack of evidence to support BSL, there is positive evidence against it. For the complex of traits relating to the occurrence of aggressive behaviour, a number of studies show that variation within a breed can be expected to exceed variation between breeds, so breed is not a good predictor of …show more content…
In fact, some breeders, mostly in deprived areas, neglect and abuse their dogs from a young age in order to make them more highly strung. In fact, Ingrid Newkirk, President of PETA, has come out in favour of BSL. “Pitbulls are perhaps the most abused dogs on the planet. These days, they are kept for protection by almost every drug dealer and pimp in every major city and beyond…bored juveniles sic them on cats, neighbours’ small dogs, and even children” A valuable point people make is that Pitbulls and many other fighting dogs are so widely mistreated that it may be fairer to restrict breeding, but in order to do this you must first wipe out the existing population of the
Behaviour is a very complex issue, one that can’t be judged by species. A report completed by Battersea Cats and Dogs Home revealed that 74% of 215 experts agreed that that breed was not important or slightly important as a reason for why dogs attack. 86% agreed that upbringing was extremely important. Professor Daniel S Mills (European and RCVS recognised Specialist in Veterinary Behavioural Medicine) states: “Not only is there a lack of evidence to support BSL, there is positive evidence against it. For the complex of traits relating to the occurrence of aggressive behaviour, a number of studies show that variation within a breed can be expected to exceed variation between breeds, so breed is not a good predictor of …show more content…
In fact, some breeders, mostly in deprived areas, neglect and abuse their dogs from a young age in order to make them more highly strung. In fact, Ingrid Newkirk, President of PETA, has come out in favour of BSL. “Pitbulls are perhaps the most abused dogs on the planet. These days, they are kept for protection by almost every drug dealer and pimp in every major city and beyond…bored juveniles sic them on cats, neighbours’ small dogs, and even children” A valuable point people make is that Pitbulls and many other fighting dogs are so widely mistreated that it may be fairer to restrict breeding, but in order to do this you must first wipe out the existing population of the