Pitty Post Day: On BSL and Why It Makes Me Angry

 Happy Birthday to Corbin from, Oh, Corbin. Here is my post for the Blogville Pitty Post Day!

Imagine one day you’re sitting on your couch enjoying a nice evening with your family. You hear a knock on the door and its animal control demanding to see your dog. Your pup comes out of the living room to greet the new stranger with his tail wagging furiously. The man takes one look at him and tells you to surrender your dog to him.

“Why?” you ask.

He replies with “Your dog is deemed dangerous by the court of (insert your state here).

“But my dog has never done anything to anyone. He has earned his CGC, I’ve had him for many years, and he even lets the kids ride him like a horse!”, you tell him this, with a shocked look on your  face.

The officer states the facts, “It’s the courts ruling and I must take any dog that looks like a Pitbull.”

You attempt to reason with the man, “My dog is not a ‘Pitbull’. There is no such thing as a breed called ‘Pitbull’. He is an American Staffordshire Terrier mix and like a child to me. Please do not take my baby!” The man does not care and grabs your petrified dog from you. You yell and scream, demanding for him to return your baby to you, but your shouts are unheard from the man who then places your child in the back of his truck. This is the very last time you see his wonderful face that has now turned into fear. You and your family cry uncontrollably as you know you will never see your first born again.

The seen I portrayed is not uncommon and in many areas there have been court rulings to ban Pitbull type dogs. This bothers me very much because a court can rule, not just bully breeds, but any breed it deems ‘unsafe for the public’. They can say that Trinity looks like an Airedale and they are ‘dangerous’ so therefore I must surrender her to the animal control officer. The words ‘over my dead body’ come into my head when thinking of this. My pets are my children and I would sell my home & re-route my life to keep my children safe and with me. In my mind there is no better place for them but with me. I am also bothered by this because Zach and I do plan on having another dog. What happens if we fall in love with a dog that resembles a Pitbull? What if they deem my new dog ‘dangerous to society’ and ban them in my town? I am lucky that there is no BSL in my town, but there are many BSL laws in surrounding towns.

I feel that it us up to us dog loving, unbiased people to over turn these laws. We fight for many rights in our country so why can we not fight for all dogs rights. Pitbulls are not a danger to society and any dog can be rehabilitated to become a loving family member. Take a look at the V-Dogs, of all the dogs pulled from this horrible dog fighting ring only 1 dog has been people aggressive, but will be living out her life at Best friends animal sanctuary, not a bad deal considering the horror these dogs faced in there lives. Education is also a key factor and many people only know what is being shown to them on T.V or on the internet. I try to over turn these stereotypes whenever possible. So please do the same because they could be coming for your dog-child to.