by Mike Gagnon

Created on: December 23, 2006   Last Updated: April 30, 2007

This issue is a much debated matter worldwide, especially in the U.K, Canada, and the U.S.

Currently Canada and the U.K. have both passed bans on Pit Bulls and Bull Mastiff type breeds. Although severely restricted, the animals are available in Canada. In the U.K. in many regions Pit Bulls seen in public are being seized and euthanized thanks to a very strict new legislation. Legislation in both countries have left laws wide open for the government to step in and declare a ban on any breed that becomes regarded as hostile by the public in the future.

The movement to ban certain dog breeds in these countries has been fueled by special interest groups who represent victims and families of several high-profile dog attacks on women and children. These attacks have often ended in death or severe disfigurement and are often carried out by dogs known for having aggressive tendencies, such as the Pit Bull.

While some support the move to ban, many see it as a government stepping in and misunderstanding the problem, providing band-aid solutions that fail to identify and change the root cause of the problem.

Although some breeds are better known for aggressive behavior, it is important to understand and analyze that in most cases aggressive dogs have been chosen by owners who for one reason or another want aggressive dogs. These owners train them, often in inhumane ways, to be aggressive dogs. In some people there is a need to own an aggressive dog simply as an extension of their own personal aggression, often motivated by their own insecurities. In reality it really isn't the genetics of the breed that make them more aggressive, it's that the breed itself is a more popular choice among those who desire to have aggressive dogs. These people often use their aggressive animals to intimidate others and their neighbors.

It is from this mentality that the problem of aggressive Pit Bulls arose, and not from the genetics of the breed itself.

Through public cases of dog attacks many victims and citizens have mistakenly gone up in arms over the dogs and their breed itself. The media attention that surrounds these cases often inspires hysteria in citizens who are unfamiliar with the animals and the process of dog breeding in general. After a rash of Pit Bull and Pit Bull type breed attacks in the U.K., Canada, and the U.S. the Canadian government attempted to curb the hysteria by banning the Pit Bull in its county. The dog hysteria continued and even escalated in their southern neighbor

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