5 December 2013
Persuasive Outline
Breed Specific Legislation
General Goal: To persuade.
Specific Goal: I will persuade my audience to oppose breed specific legislation in the United States.
Thesis: Breed Specific Legislation is ineffective and should be outlawed in the United States because breed identification methods are flawed, no dog breed is truly more dangerous than another, and the cost to enforce breed specific legislation is high.
Introduction
The American Pet Products Association states that 56 million American households own a dog. That’s half of all homes in the United States. Half of us know the affection and companionship of a dog. Half of us may even consider our dogs as a part of the family, and half of us would understand the pain of losing one of our pets. Laws are now being passed that are banning certain dogs from cities, counties, states, and even entire countries. It’s called Breed Specific Legislation, or BSL for short, and its sole purpose is to remove and euthanize dogs from American homes that are considered dangerous. BSL does not work, and should not be considered because breed identification methods are flawed, no dog breed is truly more dangerous than another, and the cost to enforce breed specific legislation is high. Body
I. According to an unknown author from The Humane Society of the United States, the nation’s largest and most effective animal protection organization last updated on January 9, 2013 “Breed-specific legislation (BSL) is the banning or restriction of specific breeds of dogs considered “dangerous’’’.
1. The most infamous dog that is considered dangerous is the ‘pit bull’, and these dogs are the targets of most, if not all BSL appeals
A. In fact, a pit bull is not actually a breed of dog, it is a term used to describe three similar dog breeds, but more commonly it is a generic term used for dogs with certain, sometimes vague characteristics. These characteristics include:
a) A square