And plans on killing every “pit bull” they can get their hands on. I find these kinds of laws despicable and based completely on ignorance. More often than not these “pit bulls” are not American Pit Bull Terriers, but are often mistaken for other types of dogs (go here to see how hard it is to spot an APBT). This story indicates that the breed of the dog is not known. Granted some highly irresponsible owners either mistreat their APBTs so that they do become human aggressive or just ignore them and leave them in the back yard so that they become fear aggressive, but these are the exceptions not the rule.
The truth is that the APBT is the only dog that I know of that was breed specifically not to bite humans. If you were a breeder of APBTs back when they were used in bull and bear fighting and later dog fighting, having a dog that was also human aggressive was dangerous for the handlers. As such any APBT that showed signs of human aggression was removed from the gene pool, literally such dogs were killed. Over the course of generations APBTs are far less prone to bite a human than just about any other dog.
And as Radley Balko notes, the law and the Mayor’s temporary ban on fines is just stupid as it will have precisely the opposite effect than what is intended.
Let’s put up two hypothetical put bull owners.
Owner A is a family who had the misfortune of picking a pit bull from the pet store, breeder, or pound. They’ve raised the dog as a pet, and it lives in a happy, loving home. It’s harmless.
Owner B is a drug dealer who bought a pit bull to protect his supply. He has trained the dog to attack. The dog, obviously, is dangerous.
Now ask yourself, which dog owner is more likely to care enough about following the law to take advantage of the amnesty? Which dog is more likely to be turned over and euthanized? How many harmless dogs will be taken from their families and killed, then, because of this stupid policy? How many truly harmful dogs trained to protect illegal endeavors will be?
The APBT is a powerful dog and the responsible owner should make sure the dog is well socialized in terms of both people and other dogs (dog aggression is the biggest problem with these dogs). Also, make sure that the dogs realize that all humans in the household are higher in the heirarchy than they are. Finally, make sure the dogs are well exercised. A dog cooped up in a small backyard all day or a crate is a dog with lots of energy. Take the dog for a good long walk (at least 1.5 to 2 miles each day). If you can’t do all of this, then be responsible and don’t own this type of dog.
