Setting Aside Semantics: Not Killing Pets Must Be Our Goal
Wayne Pacelle, the president of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), still tap dances around backing breed specific legislation. But in this recent blog post, he acknowledges the profound issue at stake, and takes a stance on mandatory spaying and neutering of pit bulls.
This is a step in the right direction. The fundamental goal behind breed specific legislation is to reduce breed population, whereby benefiting shelters, communities and the breed. According to recent numbers, US shelters kill about 1.4 million dogs per year, 750,000 of these dogs are pit bulls and their mixes. This is highly lopsided, given that pit bulls only make up about 5% of the US dog population."There are other types of challenges. There are too many pit bulls being bred, mistreated and discarded in this country. Many urban shelters are packed with them, with pit bulls, in some communities, accounting for as many as 70 percent of all dogs in the shelters. Many people who want to provide a loving home won't consider these animals. And many people who want a dog as a weapon or a fighting animal do want them. This dynamic does not lend itself to an easy solution, and that's why The HSUS has been advocating mandatory spaying and neutering of pit bulls in our communities."
If not killing pit bulls is our goal -- which is the very goal of the HSUS -- communities need to initiate controls around the breed. Mandatory sterilization and stricter regulation of breeders is a healthy start.
PROTECT YOUR NEIGHBOR
Hello fellow American. I will keep this short. The American Pit Bull Terrier is a proud part of American history. Remember “Our Gang”? Spanky and friends had a dog named Pete. He was an APBT. They represent everything that is is to be American. This is “to be smart, strong and family orientated”. Please do not let the actions of a few punish the many. I spoke with a man who delivered a Fed Ex package to me. He liked my dog (although she looks intimidating as well as friendly). With 30 years of delivering packages for Fed Ex he had NEVER come across a vicious APBT.
Do some cold calling and surveys of delivery people. See what kind of experiences they have had with the APBT.
PUNISH THE DEED, NOT THE BREED
Just as Hitler came for those who could not stick up for themselves, BLS is trying to eradicate (as well as take away rights never to be brought back – rights Americans and theirs dogs fought and died for) an entire species.
Please vistit The Connecticut Military Department web site at http://www.ct.gov/mil/site. There you will find an article to read about Stuby the war dog. It is under “History and Adventure”.
May god forgive us for the attempt to kill off a species. To limit one APBT per family is like China limiting people to one child. A limit like this WILL create puppy mills. This breed loves to play. To watch two American Pit Bull Terriers at play is pure joy (especially a momma and her pup). This is a property right issue. If property rights continue to be limited, owners are forced to leave and seek a new life else where.
Remember, the rights that are “THE MOST IMPORTANT TO PROTECT, ARE THE RIGHTS YOU DO NOT BELIEVE IN”. Sincerely, Another American under constant attack
Let me get this straight. Pit bulls were specifically bred to be very strong and aggressive, and to fight and win.
Exactly why is it so hard to believe they would be overly aggressive and dangerous, exactly as they have been bred to be?
As a vegan animal rights activist, I just don't understand the denial that pit bulls are unpredictable and so obviously dangerous to people- including their owners- and humans. It's like a collective mental illness.