 The ASTAO is AGAINST Breed Specific Legislation (BSL). BSL refers to any law that is passed that in some way restricts owners of a particular breed of dog. We believe, as many people have stated: “Punish the Deed, not the Breed!” A majority of BSL is directed towards “pit bull” breeds. Other breeds that can be effected by BSL are Rottweilers, Akitas, Dobermans, and other large aggressive breeds of dog.
BSL can enforce laws that are more of a nuisance, which basically require the owner of a “pit bull” to fulfill outrageous, costly, and unnecessary requirements to own their dogs. The other end of the spectrum can enforce complete breed bans. Here are some examples of what the laws can do:
- Require owners to acquire from $25,000 to $100,000 liability insurance
- Require the dogs to be neutered, spayed, microchipped, tattooed, and solely obedience trained
- Require owners and handlers to be over a certain age (usually 17-18 years old)
- Completely ban “pit bull dogs”
- Confiscate dogs and kill them. Owners Beware: watch what states you’re traveling through and/or moving to. Be sure there is not BSL in effect before you arrive!
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- “pit bull” is defined (in most states) as a dog having at least one quarter of the following breeds of dog: American Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, American Pit Bull Terrier, American Bull Dog, and in some states even the Rottweiler.
- When “dangerous dog” is referenced in BSL, many states fail to describe in their laws exactly what a dangerous dog is. Statements such as this give the ability for law enforcement to restrict a larger number of animals.
- A part of one particular proposal brought up in Louisiana, in April of 2001 said, “No person shall train a pit bull dog.” That’s it . . . I guess they’re not allowed to be obedience trained either!!
If this were about any other subject, we could laugh about how outrageous some of this sounds. Unfortunately, the people writing and enforcing these laws are the people who have control over the situation . . . SCARY!!
 We, as owners, should not be forced to move away from home, or “tip-toe” around just to own our dogs. We should have all of the rights that any other responsible, law-abiding dog owner has. We have committed no crimes, nor have our dogs. So, why should we have to give in to the unsupported fears of an uneducated population? We shouldn’t! It is very important for every responsible owner out there to do everything in their ability to make a stand against BSL wherever it may appear. You could be next!
Some may be visiting this site right now and thinking that all of the reasons for such bans and laws are supported and can be backed up in case studies or other means. I’m sure that these people could roll statistics off of the tip of their tongues. The FACT is these statistics are notoriously incorrect. Here are the reasons why:
- Cases of reported “pit bull” attacks are not reliable. There is no dispute that a person was bitten. However, many dogs, including dogs that are not lumped into the “pit bull” category look similar to Pit Bulls.
- Percentages of “pit bull” attacks versus other breeds are not accurate. This is for the same reason stated above, as well as the fact that many people do not report attacks.
- Percentages of unprovoked attacks are inaccurate, as well. Who do you know that, when questioned, would admit to provoking a dog to attack?
In actuality, Pit Bulls rank very high with the American Temperament Test Society. The current APBT passing rate is 83.9%, and the AST is 83.2%- the same score as the Golden Retriever, " America's Favorite Dog"! To learn more about this test, please visit http://www.atts.org/testdesc.html for detailed information.
We must do all in our power to retract current BSL, as well as to prevent more from being passed in the future. The ASTAO will aid as much as possible in this effort! If you have information about current BSL proposals, or know of petitions to sign online, please write to BSL@astao.org.
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