Today I watched the film Beyond the Myth: A Film About Pit Bulls and Breed Discrimination. It was premiering at the Flyway Film Festival in Pepin, WI. Libby Sherrill, the film maker, did a great job with gathering factual information about the breed and breed specific legislation combined with personal stories and experiences different community members across the country have had with their Pit Bulls and BSL.
I do not expect everyone to like Pit Bulls, but what I do expect is for people to be reasonable and to not make rash decisions or laws based on a few bad experiences at the hands of irresponsible people. This film gives the facts about BSL and how it affects responsible dog owners and their canine family members.
What we do know from research and data collected from communities that have enacted BSL is that it does not work. Bite reports in these communities have not changed. People still own these dogs, but instead of properly socializing them, vaccinating them and registering them with their communities, the dogs are kept hidden. Huge sums of tax payers money is spent on trying to enforce BSL, which is not easy since the officers in charge of identifying Pit Bull type dogs are not skillfully trained. Countless pit bulls that are family pets living with responsible people are the ones who suffer. Meanwhile the demographic that BSL is targeted for, bad dog owners, continue to have dogs and cause issues in their communities.
The main question that every dog person needs to take away from BSL is who will be next? If you don’t speak up about the pit bull type breeds, your breed could be next! That’s the truth. BSL doesn’t stop bad dog owners from owning dogs, so if having a pit bull is difficult than they may choose another breed to demonize next and make a public figure for status symbols or gang activities…could it be the Rottweiler again, the Doberman, the German Shepherd? How about a Black Labrador Retriever or German Short-hair Pointers? Money from BSL would be better spent on educating people on how to properly care for dogs, especially the youth and for targeting irresponsible dog owners from having dogs at all.
Know the facts, don’t believe the media hype and subjective coverage. The media does a great job of blowing stories out of proportion and drumming up fear in people. Pit Bulls are a journalist’s gold mine right now. If another breed of dog attacks someone, there is rarely coverage about it, but if it’s a Pit Bull type dog than it makes national news, what is wrong with this picture?!
Today is National Pit Bull Awareness Day! So please keep an open mind about the breed and do some research if you want to know more. Pitties are not for everyone, but for those who want to share their lives with them, they should have that right, provided they are responsible owners (but then every dog should have a responsible owner)!
