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Alyssa Allen

UWRT 1103
Professor Cary
1 May 2016
BSL: Bullshit Law
Bark. The sound almost every human is familiar with. 36.5% of
households own a dog in the United States. (American Veterinary Medical
Foundation). If you dont own a dog, chances are that you know someone
who does. Everyone has their preferred breed, but what if your preferred
breed was considered dangerous by your state? This is an issue that many
Americans face in todays world. Due to fear and ignorance, legislation has
discriminated against specific breeds of dogs by either banning them from
being owned or restricting the way they are treated based purely on the fact
that they are the breed they are. It does not matter if the dog has never
shown signs of vicious or violent behavior; because it was born the breed it
is; it is considered a threat. These laws I am referring to are commonly know
as Breed Specific Legislation or BSL. And as you can see by my title, I am not
a fan.
First off, lets get the facts straight. What exactly is BSL? Breedspecific legislation (BSL), also referred to as breed-discriminatory legislation
(BDL), is a law or ordinance that prohibits or restricts the keeping of dogs of
specific breeds, dogs presumed to be specific breeds, mixes of specific
breeds, and/or dogs presumed to be mixes of one or more of those breeds."

(National Canine Research Council or NCRC). These laws are separated into
bans, where the targeted breeds are not permitted in the area that the law is
in place, and restrictions, which require owners of these breeds to take
certain precautions with their pets. Some restrictions include: sterilization,
muzzles, liability insurance, dog warnings on property, and much more. Now,
the biggest fact out there is that BSL does not stop dogs from biting nor does
it reduce the amount of dog bite injuries per year. There also is no scientific
evidence that one specific breed of dog is more dangerous or more likely to
bite a human that another.
Now that the main facts are out of the way, lets talk business. What is
the point of having a law if it is not showing the results intended? After years
of this failure to reduce dog bite injuries, these laws should be taken down or
modified in order to become more progressive. Not only are these law
ineffective, they are extremely costly. In 2012 in Miami, taxpayers paid $3
million annually to enforce the ban on pit bulls. (DogsBite.org). That is an
insane amount of money to pay for something that is ineffective. Would you
pay a cell phone bill for a phone that didnt have service? This is the same
idea. Not only is it expensive, but it penalizes responsible pet owners by
requiring them to follow these laws.
All BSL laws are just a production of fear and ignorance. I say educate,
dont discriminate. Being biased towards a specific breed of dog is equivalent
to racial profiling; which is wrong. We dont stereotype people to the point
where we dont give them the same opportunities as everyone else, or so we

try to, so why would we do so with dogs? We have laws in the constitution to
avoid discrimination among our people so shouldnt we give the same
courtesy to all members of the family including our pets? A human cant help
the way they are born and that includes race, sexuality, gender, and many
more; these factors dont give us the right to discriminate against one
another. So why do we punish good dogs for the way the are born? All these
dogs want is to be loved.
Just the other night, I was walking to my boyfriends apartment with
him. When we got to the hall, there was a pit bull out with a couple who live
there. I am not the one to be afraid of dogs or judge a dog by its skin. And
Im so thankful Im not because this dog, Diesel, was one of the sweetest
dogs Ive ever pet. There were two other smaller dogs in the hall with their
owners, and Diesel constantly made laps to give and receive attention from
everyone including the other pups. He was so friendly and loving. He loved
my butt scratches I gave him. I got to talking with his owner about how when
she moved into the apartment complex, she almost got removed from the
grounds because she owned him. She had to get him registered as an
Emotional Support Animal or ESA in order to keep him. This infuriates me.
The fact that a complex would go as far as kicking a resident out purely
because they own a type of dog. And this is not the first case I have seen of
this. I have a friend named Autumn whose roommate ran into the same
problem. Now, let me give some insight on her pit bull. She has three legs.
Three. Im not saying she is incapable of protecting herself, but she is the

complete opposite of vicious, and honestly, I dont see how she could cause
an injury to anyone due to her physical circumstances. This sweet, little girl
(legit probably 35 to 40 lbs.) had to registered as an ESA just to be permitted
to live there. Unfortunately, this is something that is apparent in almost
every apartment complex in the university area: they have a breed or weight
restriction on pets.
Now, I would just like to share another adorable story about a
wonderful dog. His name is Mac. He is a 3-year-old pit bull. He loves bully
rubs and butt scratches. He also loves to play fetch even if he doesnt know
when to give the stick back. He loves to play with other four legged friends.
This includes other dogs of all breeds and frogs. Yes, I said frogs. Sometimes,
when Mac goes outside to potty, he meets some frogs. He thinks they are
cute so he picks them up in his mouth. But dont worry, he wont eat them.
He simply brings them to a spot by the garage door of his house and returns
inside. The next time he needs to take a leak, he runs out to the spot he left
his froggy friend. Unfortunately, the frog has disappeared back into the
woods, and Mac gets sad. Thankfully, hes an optimist and loves to smile. So
tell me, is Mac a vicious, dangerous pit bull that should be banned from
having a home? If we want to save dogs like Mac, we have to stand up
against BSL and their bullshit laws.
I have shared my views of these laws and these breeds. I hope you can
shed some light on the subject and open your eyes along with your heart and
stand up against BSL. Now I leave you with this last thought. Did you know

that only 1 in every 600 pit bulls find a forever home? This means the
other 599 pups go unloved until the live their life fully or are put to sleep in
an over-populated shelter. BSL is encouraging the fear of these breeds and
causing more and more dogs to remain homeless and family-less. If you
could help provide a home to a sad dog, would you? If the answer is yes, yet
you support BSL, why then you are a bigger hypocrite than you may know.
Thank you.

Works Cited
"Breed-Specific Legislation (BSL) FAQ - Legislating Dogs." DogsBite.org. Web. 01 May 2016.
"National Canine Research Council." Breed-Specific Legislation (BSL) FAQ I NCRC. Web. 01
May 2016.
" U.S. Pet Ownership Statistics." U.S. Pet Ownership Statistics. Web. 01 May 2016.
"What Is BSL?" Stop BSL. 2008. Web. 01 May 2016.

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