Wag the Dog

The Fraser Valley in B.C. is currently a buzz over the numerous reports and references to the recent “pit bull” attacks which occurred in Surrey. The frenzy over the prospect of a demon to conquer overshadows any conscientious approach to public safety. Letters of discontent and demand flood newspaper editors and government officials. Schools go into lock down at the mere sight of what might resemble someone’s idea of what a “pit bull” is. Delusions of locking jaws, time bombs and super dog strength resurface. News of attacks by other breeds is kept localized, buried or ignored. This fixation with “pit bulls” is costing human lives while a preventable public threat remains unresolved and we risk losing an irreplaceable asset.

There is blatant disregard for the vast majority of dog attack victims including fatalities, because they are the victims of other breeds. The pacifying of personal phobias is taking precedence over the lives of others. What are we saying to those who have lost loved ones to the many breeds other than those we have stigmatized as being dangerous?

It is shocking, the lengths to which people will go to avoid owner accountability. The creation of dangerous breeds implies that some breeds are beyond management, consequently there is a significant degree of acceptance and excuse for negligent owners. If it is the breed that is responsible, an owner’s obligation ends at choosing the flavor of the month breed. Any pursuit of education, training or management of the dog is optional from that point. In the global absence of any reliable scientific studies and statistics associating breeds and dog attacks, numerical quotes constantly reappear in desperate efforts to promote the breed mania. There appears to be a kind of emotional self indulgence for some who participate in the unsubstantiated condemnation of a select group of dogs. Still others take it a step further and target the size of a dog for restrictions, somehow surmising that an unmotivated 160 lb Great Dane is more threat to a toddler than a 25 lb violent Sheltie. Many pretend that laws which address owners are adequate and being enforced. This is also the mentality, which fantasizes that banning breeds will stop owners from producing dangerous dogs just as they imagined gun restrictions would reduce violent crime.

Dysfunctional and violent individuals are the element of owners, which most people aim to impact by banning breeds, but in reality, have the opposite effect on. Liability is easily avoided by simply discarding the targeted breed by whatever means and reestablishing another breed or cross breed. In France as the list of banned breeds began its ascent, gang members started using Barbary apes as a primary line of defense. Unlike Canada and the US, where dogs refuse orders to attack the police, apes possess no such innate loyalty to men.

It is understandable how the public has been misled regarding breeds and dog behavior. Selective interpretation by public and reporting by media paves the way for creating and perpetuating the monster breed image. For every non targeted breed attack making small print on page 16 of one paper there are 20 alleged “pit bull” attacks making front page headlines in several papers. For example a recent article spotlights a Surrey B.C. attack by an alleged “pit bull” on an 11 year old boy and claims that muzzles and breed bans are the way to go. The author as usual, ignores a more serious Oshawa Ontario Lab attack on an 8 year old girl. Both attacks occurred in the same country, close in time, on public property involving victims of comparable age. In addition, the Lab attack took place where a “pit bull” ban and muzzling was and is in effect. Both victims survived, however the victim of the Lab attack was reported to have required surgery. Major papers from one end of the country to the other ran the “pit bull” story while numerous Fraser Valley papers reported and referenced the same story. Only one small paper ran the Lab story in the community of the incident. This media preference for reporting “pit bull” incidents is common and by no means isolated to B.C. When the editorial board of Kitchener-Waterloo was posed this question, “Since three out of every 100 dog bites are alleged pit bulls, why do you only report pit bull attacks in the news?” their answer was, “because pit bulls are news”. In addition, people are several times more likely to report a targeted breed attack than that of the socially acceptable breeds regardless of severity.

Dog bite related fatalities are extremely rare, although bites requiring medical attention are much too frequent. All types of dog attacks are almost completely preventable. There is an extremely high potential for manageability and predictability in all dogs. This is difficult to swallow for most owners who have not even taught their dog to execute consistent recalls. Our current laws reflect these very low standards for dog management.

Many dogs, so called “pit bulls” included, enhance, service and save lives and all have the potential to do so. More and more we are discovering new values in dogs in areas of health, science, law enforcement as well as in domestic settings. People are eager to remove thousands of these life supporting assets with sweeping bans. Until legislators heed experts’ warnings that any dog in the wrong hands, regardless of breed or size has the potential to cause both serious harm and fatalities to humans, the list of breeds to be banned will escalate along with the list of unnecessary victims.

                                                             Text   SandraAllison

Thank you to guest writer Sandra Allison.