I would like to start off this blog by saying I am disgusted by humans in power with ignorance as their argument for power making decisions. As many of you know that Montreal has recently joined the BSL Bann, not a club anyone wants to join or be a pert of. I would like to speak to those who do not understand the severity of these ridiculous rules and what it means to people and their pets. So the new law states what they deem as a dangerous dog, ready? I quote ” Any dog that kills an animal listed in this section which includes rabbits, rodents, or toads is declared a dangerous dog, these dogs are declared dangerous is banned and euthanized- with no appeal process. Any dog 20 kg+ have to wear a halter or harness, city representatives can access your home without any warrant!”

#sweetface #bestbuddy #rrruffhouse#rescue#junior

Okay lets just start with this one, are you kidding me? so ANY dog that kills a rodent, rabbit or a toad is a dangerous dog? My God, this is every damn dog on the planet! No appeal process for them? this is criminal! Even the most dangerous humans, terrorist, mass murderers, serial rapist get their day in court! The media is constantly saying we as humans cannot paint the masses with the same brush meaning not all people are dangerous, not all Muslims are terrorist, not all black are thugs, not all cops are bad and its unfair of us to paint them with this broad brush which I personally am 100% supportive of, not all people of religion, geographical boundaries, colour or creed should pay the price for a few bad apples, this I think we can all agree with. So then why are we banning an entire breed and sub breeds of dogs based on the actions of a few? Unlike humans who chose to do the wrong things sometimes dogs are victims! Victims of the human condition Called big mouth with no ability to back themselves up, so we get a ” big mean dog”  Well this disgusts me.

In fear of painting a group with this broad brush I am going to tell it like I have personal see it. You can go downtown of any city and see the less desirables hanging around drinking, doing drugs, selling drugs, selling themselves, loitering, and just being a pain in the ass. Some old, some young makes no difference on how they live down there. I have personally witnessed in the pass a young gentleman ( punk kid ) who had a big “mean dog” and lets just say his mouth was writing cheques his ass couldn’t cash, when the gentleman (another punk kid) he was arguing with began to force himself in the first gentleman’s personal space, the kid with the dog yells ” you F@#%king come near me I’m gonna release my dog and he will finish what I started!” and yes he did release the dog and the second gentlemen was taken to emerge to get stitches. So who is at fault? The dog? This poor dog was bought as a weapon vs a pet and was taught and conditioned over months, years to behave this way and protect his owner, the dog did his job! I am in no way saying the dog was in the right, what I am saying is the human taught the dog this was what he was supposed to do.

So why was this first gentleman not held responsible? why did the dog get put down and this punk kid walk free? Free to reoffend, free to pick another puppy and do it all over again, free to abuse another animal, free to teach another dog to be his personal guard dog, free to create another killer! This pisses me off, most people who own these now banned dogs are raising ambassadors of these breeds to show the world what lovely animals they really are. 90% of the banned breeds have NEVER attacked, bitten, hurt or have ever threatened to hurt but we don’t look at those statistics we only see the few! So there seems to be a double standard, you don’t want us to punish the masses for the few but this is what you are doing!

So here are a few more facts for you,

The most aggressive breed, the study found, was the Dachshund. The researchers discovered that that one in five have bit or attempted to bite a stranger, and one in twelve have lashed out at their owners. Chihuahuas were in second place, and Jack Russells were the third most aggressive breed. Up to 30 percent of these smaller breeds have bit or attempted to bite unfamiliar dogs.

Surprised? One of the study’s researchers thinks that bigger dogs were thought to be more aggressive because past research looked at bite statistics—but most bites are not reported. Bigger dogs have bigger bites, which makes it more likely that those–not Dachshund bites—are the ones being medically treated and therefore reported. This study, however, surveyed 6,000 dog owners instead.

The least aggressive breeds included Basset Hounds, Golden Retrievers, Labradors, Siberian Huskies, and Greyhounds. Pit Bulls and Rottweilers scored about average to below average in the study. Below average!!!

so why are we still targeting the big dogs? because they are over the 20kg weight limit?  Pitbulls and all branches of the breeds were once revered for their love and compassion for their families. The pit bull apologia would have you believe that their fighting bred dogs are just like any other dog in many ways, but so superior in their unparalleled love and devotion for children they were commonly known as “The Nanny Dog” throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries. If pit bulls are held in low esteem today, it is only due to ignorance and the gullible acceptance of biased news reporting because, once upon a time, pit bulls were the most beloved dog in England and the United States.

A google search brings up 77,100 results for the term “nanny dog.” While some sites bestow the Nanny Dog mantle on the American Pit Bull Terrier or the American Staffordshire Terrier and some lead you to productions of Peter Pan, most of the results lead you to 21st century blogs and news articles about the Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

120 sites dedicated to the Staffordshire Bull Terrier include this phrase in support of the fighting nanny dog mythology,

“These dogs were renowned for their courage and tenacity and despite their ferocity in the pit were excellent companions and good with children. In fact it was not unknown for an injured dog to be transported home in a pram with the baby!”

Frankly, even if this anecdote were plausible, let alone true, this doesn’t support a nanny dog claim so much as it supports a sociopathic, baby abusing, dog abusing parent claim.

Dig as hard as you want, the pram story is all you’ll find to support the Nanny Dog myth in any of these sites. You won’t find a single citation, quote or reference of any kind to a 19th century, or early 20th century text. Since the Staffordshire Bull Terrier enthusiasts didn’t see fit to support their claims, I decided I would have to find the origin of the Nanny Dog myself.

It is not hard to find old references to the Bull Terrier. The various histories and descriptions of the breed largely agree with each other. After bull baiting was banned in England, Coalminers in various cities including Staffordshire were at a loss for blood sporting alternatives for their beloved, courageous bulldogs. So, they developed another blood sport – pit dog fighting. Sadly, they soon found their bulldogs were not suited to win in the pit.

According to a 1908 New York Times article,

“The old lovers of the bulldog found to their dismay that sometimes a terrier, with only quickness and a pair of punishing jaws to recommend him, would kill a bulldog while the latter was merely hanging on. The bulldog would be brave to the death of course, and would withstand pain that the terrier would never endure, but that was poor consolation when the terrier had killed the dog.

The dog fighters were, however, as persevering a set of men as were the bull baiters, and they set to work to remodel their favorites for their new occupation. They began to cross their bulldogs with the white English terrier, a breed now practically extinct, but the same in every respect, save color, as the modern Manchester or black-and-tan. The progeny was named the bull terrier, the greatest fighting machine, pound for pound, on four legs. The bull terrier had the courage of the bulldog and the jaws and quickness of the white terrier. Moreover, he has the terrier’s way of fighting. He does not simply take a hold and stay there. He takes a hold and begins to eat his way through and tear and worry. If his first hold doesn’t suit, he takes another. If he gets his adversary by the throat, he will tear out the throat in a minute or so and end the battle.”

“There is perhaps no more beautiful illustration of the results of artificial selection than is provided in the history of the bulldog. It is a wonderful example of patient and skillful breeding for an object that is not wholly ignoble.

We can agree to disagree on that last point. Lets go back to what the people deem as a dangerous dog for a moment, ANY DOG that kills a rabbit, rodent or a toad. This alone is the biggest, offensive statement out there, almost every dog of every breed had killed a rodent, rabbit or toad either by their prey drive or simply by playing, does this still qualify as a killer to be euthanized? by this logic every domestic cat should now be labeled as mountain lions, sound absurd? well I should think so, cats kill more rodents, rabbits or toads then any dog I am aware of, most people get cats to keep down the rodent population, people find mice in the house, they get a cat, farmers have rats in their hay lofts, they get a cat, cats bite and scratch more people then most realize. Many people have been sent to hospital for shots, stitches and antibiotics from cat “attacks” but its not news worthy so there is no hype around cats, no BSL for cats, I am not saying in anyway that cats are dangerous I am simply making a point. All animals have the ability to hurt humans and other animals if not properly cared for, trained and treated with compassion, any animal even wild ones need to be treated with the proper amount of respect they deserve.

I have been a dog trainer and lover for over 27 years and I can honestly tell you I have been bitten by four dogs in my career and by four separate dogs but each one was a small dog under the 20kg weight limit, in all four cases I required stitches and in all four cases the dog was not put down due to the breed and age of the dogs. I am not going to mention the breed but what I will tell you is this, I deal with many, many large breeds who are on this BSL and NOT ONCE have I been bitten by them, threatened by them or attacked by them and I have met some bad ones owned by bad owners and I have met some fantastic ones owned by great owners.  Its nurture vs nature. teach a dog to love and it will, teach it to hurt and it will! People are the issue not a specific breed, please educate yourself and stop the fear mongering, we are going to loose a lot of great animals or turn already great animals bad by treating them as criminals. PLEASE HELP STOP BSLAND DO YOUR PART! You never know one of these “BAD” dogs may save your life someday.