Pit Bulls

I’m sure most of you are aware of the laws and bans on a specific breed of dogs, all categorized under the generic name “pit bull”. On August 29, 2005 Ontario’s pit bull ban took effect, which prohibits the owning, breeding, transferring, importing or abandoning of pit bulls. Pit bulls who already were alive prior to this date were allowed to be kept, but strict rules were to be followed by their owners. Any pit bulls born after the date it took effect are considered illegal.

Under the Frequently Asked Questions, question #2:

2. Is my dog a pit bull?

Under the amendments to DOLA, pit bull is defined as:

• A pit bull terrier
• A Staffordshire bull terrier
• An American Staffordshire terrier
• An American pit bull terrier
• A dog that has an appearance and physical characteristics substantially similar to any of those dogs.

So, if my dog happens to have a wide forehead and a bad attitude, he may be defined as a pit bull?
I have a dog, and he happens to fit those physical characteristics, and he is an absolute sweetheart. Despite his loving disposition towards most people, he also displays some negative behavior. He becomes extremely aggressive towards fast-moving objects (motorcycles, bikes, runners) and often scares people when he reacts that way. I don’t think it is because of his breed, I think he reacts out of fear, or in the attempt to be protective.

I visited many websites reading both for and against opinions on the pit bull ban. I personally feel that dog bites happen so often, probably a small amount are actually reported. I think that the more serious the damage, the more likely it is to be reported. That being said, if a Chihuahua attacks you, the damage will not be as significant and the attack will only injure the person to the point of stitches and bruising. If a pit bull attacks you, it is not going to back down and I believe they will cause a far bigger amount of damage in a smaller amount of time. I read that since the ban, the percentage of dog bites has been reduced – but even after reading that, I still can’t agree with wiping out an entire breed. I don’t see it as morally correct, to declare that 4 different breeds of dogs are illegal to own, and that every single individual dog will definitely be aggressive and not fit to be a part of our society. I don’t think that they should be getting put down. I think that if they want to implement laws and keep dog bites at a minimum they should have behavioural tests, conducted before destroying an innocent animal. Have some sort of control by way of supervised owning and breeding, or allowing owners to pay to have their dogs behaviour tested every year to ensure the dog is controlled and safe to be a part of society. I don’t know exactly what they could do, but I do think that there are other ways of controlling the situation, rather than just wiping out the breeds completely. Imagine someone decided that most murderers shared a certain physical similarity, so we started pre-emptively eliminating those people from society… in hopes that the murder rate would be reduced. I know that’s an extreme comparison, but you get what I’m saying.  

What’s your opinion on the pit bull ban in Ontario ?

Myths about Pit bulls