Post
by nikirushka » Sat Aug 11, 2012 2:53 pm
When are people going to understand that banning breeds/types and muzzling all dogs WILL NOT WORK?
Four breeds are already banned, and have been for 21 years; yet there are more pit bulls in the UK now than ever before. Banning anything bigger than a labrador equally will not work - the wrong people will still own them, and many more of such dogs will end up stuck indoors and frustrated, and much MORE likely to become dangerous because of that frustration, because people will still want to own them but won't want them destroyed.
And incidentally, pit bulls are not a large breed so I'm not entirely sure where your logic is coming from on that point.
The problem is PEOPLE. We need better restrictions on owners; certification and licensing, more controls on breeding and so on. Blanket neutering does not work - again the wrong people won't bother and after decades of neutering campaigns, the rescue and stray situation is worse than ever. Again, it's about responsibility - I have had entire bitches here go through many seasons and have never once had an accidental mating (or a deliberate one), no litters have been born because I have taken steps to keep them safe until they were mature enough to be spayed.
Muzzling all dogs will not work - a dog can still do significant damage with a muzzle on, if it is truly intent on an attack, and as pointed out already, the wrong types of people just won't bother anyway, same as with microchipping. We need to stop those types owning dogs in the first place.
Give owners no choice but to be responsible and the problems will reduce. I have 9 dogs - eight between 15kg and 34kg, and one 7kg - yet they are under my control at all times (and again with the size thing - the 7kg is the only one that will bite (mistreated and I've only had him 4 days, he'll stop soon enough), out of fear, size really doesn't make any difference if the dog has been mistreated/badly raised as he has). The small dog is walked early morning when minimal people are out, for his stress levels and other peoples' safety (and I am in the process of muzzle training him for additional safety); everyone else is walked at quieter times of the day but are all well trained and sociable, and I often get comments to that effect. We regularly walk in the local park where kids and dogs mix often, everyone is happy because everyone knows how to behave around everyone else.
In 5 years here I have seen ONE child behave in such a way that he was likely to get bitten (and it would have been HIS fault (well, his parents for not teaching him how to behave around dogs), as his behaviour was extremely threatening to dogs) - I called him on it and he stopped. My garden is secure so they can't get out, and they don't go in the garden unless I am here to supervise. All my dogs are insured also, most are tattooed as well and all are chipped, and I meet their exercise and mental stimulation needs as well as their medical needs. That's the thing - so many dogs are understimulated and I often see such dogs becoming aggressive in my line of work (canine behaviourist), simply because they do not have enough to do, or often also because people have bought a dog because it was pretty without bothering to find out about the breed traits. Several of my dogs are here (or were here, the two that have passed on were both cases of that) because of that; all of them are/were now friendly, affectionate, trustworthy dogs. It's all in how they're raised and handled.
As with all the cases in the papers over the last few years, the PEOPLE are at fault - dangerous dogs are not born that way, they are made (my little one is a biter because he has been battered, scruffed and kicked by his original owner), we need to be addressing the other end of the leash or the attacks that make the headlines will only increase.
,,however i wish my kids were the same,, 
gx
