Touchy Subject

[Pauls_Pythons]

100% unfair.

Problems as always lie with humans not with the animals. Animals do what is either instinctive or what they are trained to do.
Man has bred these animals to be suitable for specific tasks.

 

[Merkinball]

And for anyone on here who has not seen and read the legislation in Victoria, i urge you to have a look at it, because anyone with a Staffordshire Bull Terrier or similar looking breed will be shocked to see the ease with which your pet can be taken from you and euthanised just for looking the way it does. The government has even set up a dob in a dog hotline, as well as an app for smartphones to try and identify a dangerous dog.Changes to the law have now moved the onus to the pet owner to prove it is not a pit bull type breed, and even the Stafford is in the firing line. Google save Bobo and see for yourself.

 

[MissFuller]

My girl is the most well mannered balanced dog I've ever owned. Better thence mums jack Russell who attacks anyone who gets near my mum and when she was attacked by a red cattle dog she just laid back and took it. I've seen her have kids on her back riding her, pulling on her tail and her ears. I'd trust her with any child I came across.
Bsl is a complete rubbish legislation that does nothing but rip pets away from the families that love them. And based on appearance? If it was in humans it would be racism. Any dog can be raised to be aggressive and in my experiences I've seen more aggression in these fluffy little lap dogs.
Don't get me wrong, if a dog is aggressive towards people or other animals then yes, it should be taken. Blame the deed not the breed!

 

[MyMitchie]

How many of you own english staffies? Pretty popular breed arn't they? They seem like a nice family dog? My horse and myself were mauled by one and left with permanant emotional damage because of it. I was also attacked by a cocker spanial who bit me because I answered the phone, attacked by a maltese for leaving the house. All these dogs were obedience trained, the staffy having 5 years of obedience and showing.

My point is that any dog is dangerous reguardless of its breeding. I suggest those who are against pittbulls and the like look up what breeds were used for fighting. Chances are your cute little family dog may have been originally bred to kill.

 

[Stuart]

Chances are your cute little family dog may have been originally bred to kill.

Very true. I own two German Shepherds and folks are regularly telling me to watch out because they turn on their owners or attack other dogs because they were bred to do it. Pity they are good at doing other things as well as Shepherding....

I bet folks who own Jack Russels don't understand the history of their cute lapdog or those Lakeland Terriers look so great when darting around until you learn that they were bred to hunt and kill.

I get myself into trouble regularly saying this, but as far as I'm concerned, there are no bad dogs, just dogs with bad owners and experiences. It's my own opinion, but some folks should just not be allowed pets.

 

[karmag]

As said by someone else on this subject. Blame the owner not the dog... he has no say in how he is treated, just loves you for what you give of yourself. Cruelty is a learned trait. ban the owners not the dogs. You make the dog and the dog makes you.

 

[greendoubt]

fair.

"blame the owner, not the dog," sounds fair enough in theory. in reality, with so many obviously bad owners, it's safer for everybody to just remove the dog. baw about it all you want, but until EVERYBODY can be trusted with these animals, nobody should be.

 

[KaotikJezta]

fair.

"blame the owner, not the dog," sounds fair enough in theory. in reality, with so many obviously bad owners, it's safer for everybody to just remove the dog. baw about it all you want, but until EVERYBODY can be trusted with these animals, nobody should be.

So we better ban every other large powerful breed of dog as well by that logic. How about we ban large powerful and potentially dangerous reptiles as well, and large powerful dangerous cars, and the list goes on. There are just as many irresponsible reptile owners and probably 10 times as many irresponsible drivers, so we should ban everything and all walk around in individual plastic bubbles, because hey, there are irresponsible companies polluting the air.

 

[greendoubt]

how often do you hear about other breeds attacking people and other dogs? of course it happens, but with far less frequency and significantly devastating effect. there numbers are there for anyone with the intent to find them.

everything else you said is ridiculous. how many irresponsible reptile owners can say they're accountable for a death or a crippling attack? there are already bans on OP cars for certain drivers deemed too irresponsible to handle them, the carbon tax is in place as a misguided effort to cut polution. do you already live in a bubble?

australia is a nanny state, not a democracy. there are bigger issues than being allowed to keep an ugly animal with extreme potential for deadliness, anyway

 

[Stuart]

Plagerised this from a well known site

 

[disintegratus]

how often do you hear about other breeds attacking people and other dogs? of course it happens, but with far less frequency and significantly devastating effect. there numbers are there for anyone with the intent to find them.

everything else you said is ridiculous. how many irresponsible reptile owners can say they're accountable for a death or a crippling attack? there are already bans on OP cars for certain drivers deemed too irresponsible to handle them, the carbon tax is in place as a misguided effort to cut polution. do you already live in a bubble?

australia is a nanny state, not a democracy. there are bigger issues than being allowed to keep an ugly animal with extreme potential for deadliness, anyway

do you believe everything you hear/read word for word? How many of those "pitbull" attacks have ever been confirmed as pitbulls? I'd hazard a guess the answer would be close to zero. Anyway, when there's absolutely no chance it can be portrayed as a "pitbull" or "pitbull type", it's always reported simply as a dog attack.

A couple of years ago, a chihuahua killed an infant. How is that any less devastating than when a pitbull kills a child? Happens with about the same frequency too. It's actually quite common for smaller dogs especially to attack newborns, whether through inability to communicate or jealousy or any other reason. The fact of it is, most people with larger or more powerful dogs are much more likely to teach their dogs how to behave appropriately around a variety of people of all different shapes and sizes.

 

[Wing_Nut]

how often do you hear about other breeds attacking people and other dogs? of course it happens, but with far less frequency and significantly devastating effect. there numbers are there for anyone with the intent to find them.

everything else you said is ridiculous. how many irresponsible reptile owners can say they're accountable for a death or a crippling attack? there are already bans on OP cars for certain drivers deemed too irresponsible to handle them, the carbon tax is in place as a misguided effort to cut polution. do you already live in a bubble?

australia is a nanny state, not a democracy. there are bigger issues than being allowed to keep an ugly animal with extreme potential for deadliness, anyway

I think you have hit the nail on the head with your opening statement. The breeds you refer to are vilified by the media, and the numbers you talk about reflect this. 0.6% of dogs belonging to restricted breeds or previously declared dangerous were responsible for attacks in NSW (of the 6,875 attacks reported in 10/11 only 40 were by this group). 75% of all attacks reported in NSW were a direct result of irresponsible dog ownership (dogs were not in the control of their owner.) Furthermore, the one statistic that indicates that these regulatory measures will ultimately fail, is that 61% of attacks were caused by dogs that were not registered. There are already laws in place that require the registration of dogs, however the majority of offending animals are owned by people who have already shown a lack of respect for the law. The changes to the laws will simply drive a larger divide between this group and owners who do the right thing. The laws will punish good owners not the actual problem. It should also be noted that the animals that are responsible for the most number of attacks are generally on par with these being the most popular breeds kept as pets. While the statistics I quote are based on studies in NSW, the data available in other states is very similar. You final statement that there are bigger issues than being allowed to keep an ugly animal with an extreme potential for deadliness, what do you have to support this statement? The percentage of the population that keep dogs is certainly not a minority, and its about time government bodies started to give the majority due consideration rather than pandering to minorities. Of the dogs kept that the media classify as 'dangerous' 1,770 were responsible for dog attacks. This leaves 5105 attacks that are the result of so called 'good family pets'. You are right about one thing, the media is responsible for the misinformation out there, and that the government is easily swayed by popular opinion, right or wrong.

Regards

Wing_Nut

 

[Venomous_RBB]

Extremely touchie subject but unfair... 100%
I am not saying this for just pitbulls but big dos in general, they are all shamed upon now. Who cares if the little chihuahua bit your kid only 5 seconds ago but if a big dog dare growl at your child then it is a dangerous mongrel. Honestly little dog people annoy me (not all but most), they complain about big dogs biting people or aggressive big dogs but if their small dog bites someone then its cute or funny, same if it growls or "protects" their owner.
Honestly..... I have a Long haired GS 1 year old and he seriously would not hurt a fly let alone a kid or another dog. But everyone avoids him because he is a tall, black and hairy dog? Also because he is German shepherd.
And people wonder why big dogs turn aggressive....

Sorry about my rant but seriously, it is not just the pitbulls that get a bad rep, its all big dogs.
Anyway onto BSL - Unfair.... Completely. I do not own a pitbull but love them very much, a good friend has one and he is an amazing dog - blue desexed 12 month old. And he is great with everything, his best friend is a chicken.

 

[hulloosenator]

i got bored after the first page...........

ban all dogs i say.

i am sick of mowing my lawn and cutting through dog turds when i dont even have a dog

 

[Madders]

Instead of ban the dogs ban idiots owning them.

 

[jesus]

My pitty is a baby most well natured dog every one loves her all over my neighbourhood

 

[jacorin]

unfair......one of the most nastiest agressive breeds i've come across is the chihuahua.....that breed will NEVER be banned though