Well, well, well, come to spy on me…. Shame shame.
This was a popwer point from our interact project on anim alabuse awareness
Okay, well for those of you who don’t know BSL stands for breed specific legislation.
Breed-specific legislation (BSL) is designed to place restrictions on ownership of certain breeds of dogs. Typically, the restricted breeds include pit bull-type dogs (usually vaguely defined), followed by Rottweilers. Other breeds may include German Shepherds, Chow Chows, Dobermans, Huskies, Boxers, and mixes of these.Breed-specific legislation creates a number of restrictions or regulations on any one breed. Owners of certain breeds of dogs may be required to:-Keep the dog muzzled in public
-Purchase insurance for the dog
-Keep the dog on its owner's property at all times (no trips to the park, the store, etc.)
-Keep the dog in a specific enclosure at all times.Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) Breed specific legislation is exactly what sounds like...regulation of your right
to own or, in many cases, not own a dog based solely on the breed or "type"
of dog, not your responsibility as an owner. Breed specific ordinances are quick fixes and not a sufficient long term solution for the following reasons:1. Dog problems are generally problems with owner responsibility and are not limited to breeds. When breeds are singled out as dangerous or vicious, responsibility is removed from the dog owner which is where it belongs. Irresponsible people are also less likely to follow the law - and as a result, everyone has to suffer. 2. By limiting the ability of citizens to own certain breeds, responsible law abiding citizens will shy away from those breeds. These are the types of owners that communities need to encourage, not drive away. 3. Communities that have instituted such bans often find that the irresponsible owners and the criminals who use dogs for illegal purposes simply switch to another breed. 4. Breeds and mixes are hard to identify and often dogs are mislabeled and destroyed based on paranoia and prejudice and also punishes those that are good canine citizens. Many breeds function as assistance dogs for handicapped owners, search and rescue dogs, - niffing dogs, police dogs, etc. and drives them out of the community. The American Veterinary Medical Association and several state veterinary medical associations oppose breed-specific legislation for just this reason. 5. The dog most restricted is the "pit bull." A pit bull is a type of dog, not a recognized breed. 6. Passage of laws that are only enforced through complaints cause two problems: 1) they create disrespect for the law if authorities require compliance only upon complaint, and 2) they provide ammunition for neighborhood feuds.
WHAT'S WRONG WITH BSL?
Breed identification is impossible.The biggest problem is that breed-specific legislation, true to its name, requires every dog to be classified as a certain breed. This is virtually impossible!Almost all BSL restricts "pit bulls". What are "pit bulls"? American Pit Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers, and Staffordshire Bull Terriers are usually thrown into that category. What about American Bulldogs, Bull Terriers, Boxers, or English Bulldogs? To aggravate breed identification conundrums, most legislation adds "and mixes" to the wording. In what I can only assume is an attempt to patch up this mess, the law may helpfully describe the appearance of dogs that fall under the category of "pit bull". Needless to say, a lot of dogs fall under the description of "wide head, broad chest, and short fur". Suddenly you're up to your neck in "pit bulls"!It is readily acknowledged by anyone familiar with handling a variety of dogs and mix breeds (animal control officers, veterinarians, shelter workers, etc.) that accurate identification of a dog's breed or mix is virtually impossible without registration papers or a pedigree at hand. Considering how rarely an animal control officer (ACO) catches a dog wearing tags, how often do you think an ACO lassos a stray dog that happens to have its pedigree papers? Funny thing, genetics. It causes dogs to come in all shapes and sizes and colors - especially the mixed breeds.Upholding BSL is a burden.Animal control agencies and animal shelters already struggle with too much work and not enough money. Employees and officers must prioritize based on the most immediate needs. They can't answer every stray dog call when they're buried in animal neglect and abuse cases. They already find themselves in court defending a seizure or testifying against an abuser, or spending hours calling witnesses and tracking down perpetrators. Animal control officers must take on roles as animal handlers, trappers, police, psychiatrists, social workers, veterinarians, prosecutors, investigators, detectives, witnesses, and more. They deal with life-and-death situations, angry people, and disturbing scenes of . All for a paycheck. BSL is EXPENSIVE!BSL is just another set of laws and rules that need to be upheld by struggling animal control agencies on tight budgets. These new laws will require more money and additional employees to handle the expanded amount of enforcement duties.BSL means more surrendered animals. Shelters will need to expand to hold the increased number of surrendered dogs. They will need to pay for food, shelter, and medicine for more dogs, and will ultimately need to euthanize more dogs due to lack of space and funding.
BSL prompts lawsuits from dog owners. These are often due to alleged breed misidentification or violated constitutional rights. Lawsuits are often expensive and time consuming, draining resources and tax money from the government. The AKC (and other national organizations who are against BSL) often assists dog owners in their legal battles. The animal control agencies are often unhappy about defending laws they don't support in court.
They LOVE you. They NEED you. Help STOP BSL.
Yeah.... Sorry it's so long, I think it's important for people to know about this.....
Here is a video on BSL
http://www.pitbullproblem.tk/
AutumnWasteland Community Member 
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