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Fight BSL

Fight Breed Specific Legislation.

What is "breed specific legislation?"

Breed specific legislation is where government names dogs of a particular appearance to have different rules and regulations applied than other dogs. The term "breed specific" is not a particularly accurate term because often very often the name applied for the targeted dogs is a type, not a breed. For a well organized list of BSL by location look at Understand-A-Bull. On 28 May 2009 AKC announced AKC and dog owners win ruling granting a trial to challenge constitutionality of Denver breed ban.

What's wrong with breed specific legislation?

There are many bad things about such targeted legislation. Do we really want to say that as a matter of law that it is both right and rational to treat groups differently based on their genetic background? If it is rational to treat dogs differently by breed, then it is rational to treat people differently by race. The logical basis is the same, but is it legitimate? It is unfair, and it is unwise for us to say that genetics alone is sufficient reason for different treatment. It is also generally inaccurate, especially when mixed breeds are included. My article on BSL is old, but the reasoning still holds (can't say whether the law on it does though, I haven't re-researched it). But instead of covering all the details here I'd rather point you to other places where you can learn more. For a list of locations of current or proposed breed specific legislation please see Understand-A-Bull, Breed Specific Legislation page or The Staffordshire Bull Terrier Outpost: Legislation Issues . Since passing the legislation the City of Denver has killed more than 1700 pits for no reason other than their breed.

What can you do about it?

This is an excellent article posted by Tracy Doyle and reprinted here with permission

Wake up - smell the coffee. I'm not saying that in a nasty way, but dog
ownership in this country (and many places abroad) is under attack. You're
welcome to join us in the fight, but you must liberate yourself from the
idea that it's okay to ban ANY breed. Arm yourself with knowledge and
allies. Here are some resources to get you started:

GET BOOKS (they're both cheap! Buy them!):
Dogs Bite: But Balloons and Slippers are More Dangerous, by Janis Bradley

JOIN ORGANIZATIONS:

American Dog Owner's Association
http://www.adoa.org

National Animal Interest Alliance:
http://www.naiaonline.org/

American Canine Foundation:
http://acf2004.tripod.com/

Dog Legislation Council of Canada:
http://www.doglegislationcouncilcanada.org/

JOIN E-MAIL LISTS:

Dog Holocaust
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dogholocaust

Pet Law
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pet- law/

BSL State by State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bsl_state_by_state

Now, go do a Google search for "fighting BSL" (BSL means "Breed Specific Legislation," if you don't already know that.)

And just in case you think all or most pit bull owners are ignorant jerks and that most pit bulls are wild and dangerous, check out these sites:

http://www.sorryagain.com/

http://www.pitbullproblem.tk/

Hope this helps!

Tracy

Get active - join a public demonstration - write a letter - recruit one more person to stand with you.

Roverlution
http://www.roverlution.org/index.html

Take a Hike! The focus of this site is to organize Luv-a-Bully Marches in cities all across the country. The first March (Brea,CA)last October brought out a large crowd of people from several surrounding cities after people saw an article in the newspaper about it. This issue needs to go mainstream to Educate and Demonstrate our stand before we can successfully change the
opinion of a fearful and ignorant general public.

Add a button and get the word out.

Do you have a web site? Or a blog? Then consider adding a button like this one Fight Breed Specific Legislation or Fight BSL to your site. You can use that image, if you like (please copy it to your site, don't link to it on mine). Or you can create another. The link can go to this page, but it would be better if the link went to the anti-BSL site that you think is the most educational.

Additional resources include:

Yahoo groups:

BSL Updates
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bsl-updates

For a relatively painless way to keep up to date on breed specific legislation sign up for this list. No discussions, just a series of short announcements about current issues and needs in the fight against BSL. Frankly it scares the h@ll out of me. I had no idea things were this bad.

Click here to join BSL-UPDATES
Click to join BSL-UPDATES

TAC - The Animal Council
http://www.theanimalcouncil.com/

The time for all dog owners to act against breed specific legislation is now! Don't wait until your dog is threatened, it may be too late.

Just as there are different attitudes among different groups of "pit bull" owners the same is true of all breeds and their breeders. Some are terrific, some are awful.  Our sense of justice should demand that we judge based on individual behavior rather than group condemnation.

Note: I reserve the right to make public any responses whether by e-mail or other means

                 

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Copyright © 2005, Diane Blackman     Created: November 12, 2005     Updated August 28, 2008    

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