Wake up and Smell the Coffee.. an Open Letter From Jason Mann to Supporters of Breed Specific Legislation
August 4th, 2006
Wake up and Smell the Coffee.. an Open Letter From Jason Mann to Supporters of Breed Specific Legislation
Friday, August 4th 2006
Dear Breed Specific Legislation supporter,
I would like to invite you to wake up and smell the coffee and realize your attempts to ban specific breeds of dogs are ineffective, unconstitutional, ignorant, and based on empty data and deception.
Breed specific legislation, like picking your nose in public, is an embarrassment to the intelligence of our nation.
No data suggests one breed is more dangerous than another and the fact this data does not exist should be enough to stop the creation of breed specific laws in their tracks. However, not to my surprise the lack of hard data and facts does not seem to matter to a hysterical public nor to an ignorant governing body that only cares about the majority vote to keep them in office.
Law makers should be ashamed to show their faces in public as supporters of these laws and you should be ashamed to do so as well.
When is it okay to take someone’s rights away from them and deny them their freedom?
When is it okay to tell someone they can not have a specific breed of dog in their home because you do not feel “safe” as a result?
Your argument that you, like me, have a right to feel safe in your own community and that breed specific laws will allow you to feel secure is as empty as a starving man’s stomach.
Your right to feel safe is no more important than my right to own a specific breed of canine and have them in my home.
Your right to feel safe does not override or rule out my right to feel safe from your strong arm tactics to take my freedom of choice away.
Every year millions of people are bitten by dogs. How many of them are American Pit Bull Terriers or similar breeds also referred to as, “Pit Bulls?” You don’t know and you will never know because statistical data to support your argument does not exist.
Data is twisted and guesstimated to encourage your arguments validity. Even the Central for Disease Control refuses to allow their own data to be used in court because it is misrepresented as somehow showing certain breeds are more likely to bite than others.
When the office that collected the data says it is not valid enough to warrant such drastic laws you would think that would be enough to stop the use of these outdated incomplete stats to create these laws.
Unfortunately, it seems the people and the organizations that support these laws are not phased by the hard facts these laws are ineffective and only serve to take the lives of well mannered dogs and steal the responsible owners right to have those dogs in their lives.
In conclusion
Taking someones dog away because it belongs to a certain breed of dog is going to open the door to having all companion dogs taken away. Something the animal rights groups like the PETA would love to see occur.
No dog breed will be safe in the end. These laws will continue to spread from breed to breed, city to city, state to state until we are a nation without canine companions.
If you think that is untrue you simply have to look to countries like Italy that have included Border Collies and Corgi Terriers on their breed ban lists. It is a vicious cycle that will continue without recourse.
I will meet you on the streets and I will speak my mind and I will make my voice heard and I along with the thousands of others like me will put an end to your tyranny.
Signed,
Jason Mann
Owner – Top Dog K9 Training Solutions
Advocate for the American Pit Bull Terrier
Professional Canine Instructor and Behaviorist
Owner – http://www.PitBullLovers.com
Categories: Pit Bull Blog |
I am the “Grandmother” of 5 pit bull terriers. My experience with these dogs have been nothing but wonderful. My favorite was visiting me several weeks ago. I realized at one point she was no where to be found. I looked all over my house for her, finally found her cornered in the basement…by my two cats!
The reason I am writing is because after the death of an elderly woman recently in Kansas City, KS, they are starting to enforce there “no pit bull” ban. Giving owner’s amnesty to bring there dogs in and have them destroyed. I can’t watch the news right now. It brings me to tears.
I would love to see an organization formed to probide legal assistance for people to fight these ridiculous laws. Punish the OWNER’s, not these wonderful pets. Is there such an organization……I would like to donate to them?
Oh, thank you so much Jason! I’ve been laying low because I’ve been thinking so much about this! You’re “GOOD PEOPLE” in my book!
Love,
Lulu
Please see my blog
http://lulu-whatsagirltodo.blogspot.com/2006/08/its-me-lulu.html
http://lulu-whatsagirltodo.blogspot.com/
Unfortunately, my dogs and I have experienced specific breed legislation first-hand.As of last October, Ontario (Canada) passed/enforced a Province wide “pit bull” ban. I now have to muzzle my dogs in public (even in a yard if there is no fence), and was FORCED to spade my dogs according to the governments timeline or face stiff penalties. I find this leglislation highly offensive, discriminatory, and outright inhumane. I’ve protested on my dogs behalf and try to inform people about the reality of my dogs. People need to get involved before this happens in your area. In 25 years time pit bulls in Ontario will be extinct, my dogs family line included.
Hats off to all of you that are in support of our Pitties!! I have recently moved back to Ontario from Vancouver and now face the hard times of having to introduce my boy to a muzzle and have todeal with the scrutiny and the hollering about how I should have my dog put down. Dakota is my second dog and by far the nicer of my two (the other being a Husky X Aussie Shepherd). It’s funny I can walk down the street and people flock to my black fur ball that barks and gets her back up at anything that comes near her and they run and hide when my big boy comes up witha big smile and kisses. I support all that are against this pit bull legislation and believe that if we stand together we may be able to beat this narrow minded and ignorant postition that our political leaders stand so strongly for. For more stories visit http://www.goodpooch.com... If anyone knows how we can help to aid the fight against Breed Specific Legislation please let us know… I will check the Blogs daily from here on out… thanks to all of those pitty lovers out there!!!
I guess I am lucky in that we don’t have bans on
any dog breed in South Africa (yet). As the
accidental owner of a malnourished backyard bred
pitbull pup it gets my blood boiling to see what
people in the States have to go through just
because they own a pitbull. My heart goes out to
all the people who have lost their companions and
friends due to uninformed government officials
passing laws without having their facts straight!
Good luck and best wishes to all of you – this
is something that should never have happened
because I have always been under the impression
that ALL life is sacred and precious. Keep on
fighting these laughable laws.
P.S. I think PETA consists of nutcases!
Odi
I stumbled upon your website the other day. I know it’s been said before but please keep up the good work of trying to inform people about these dogs. I just recently acquired a pit or pit mix. She came wandering up to my front porch, no tags and no collar. My fiance was outside and watched her for about 5 minutes and then called me out to see her. I am definetly one of those “prejudiced”, or should I say “uneducated” people when it comes to pits. I was a little scared to come outside but when I did I was rewarded with the biggest sloppiest kiss ever. So we brought her in and we’ve decided to keep her. She is the most wonderful people loving poochie I’ve ever come across. I now find myself trying to defend my decision to keep a stray pit and to defend my new dogs breed to people who don’t want to give her or any pit a chance. It is very sad. My fiance has had a pit before and she was a wonderful dog as well. It’s too bad that there are so many irresponsible owners out there that turn these good dogs into mean animals. I know there was a debate earlier on this blog about putting down dogs who bit. I agree with that wholeheartedly and I was confused at the stance of one guy who said he wouldn’t put down a smaller dog breed for biting b/c they couldn’t kill someone. All I have to say is, Yes, a larger dog could kill someone, but that doesn’t change the fact that the INTENT TO HARM/(DEFEND) is the same in a smaller breed when they bite. Just because they don’t have the equipment doesn’t mean that they don’t mean you as much harm. Give a small dog a larger dog’s jaw power and you’d probably see a great many more dog bite injuries on the news and a push to ban chihuahuas. Thank you for your wonderful site!
well if this breed of dog is to dangerous and should be eliminated. than we should start eliminating all of the dangerous ethnicities that aren’t what these bsl people think is acceptable…when are people gonna stop being idiots?? look at the people who have had dogs who are great ,then look at their kids ! and they’re great also.. and compare them to the people who have dogs that don’t listen,generally bad animal.and see that their kids are just the same as the dog don’t listen,do as they please .. the dog and kids are just an extension of who their parents/trainer are.. if you treat your animal and kids like trash they will act like it..so its not the breeds fault its the owner license the owner….. not just the dog.. you have to get licensed to drive a car ,and it could be misused just like the breed!!!so killing these peoples pet who aren’t bad animals isn’t gonna fix the problem.. in fact you are gonna make a even bigger problem.not only will you fight to get rid of dogs,but you’ll make a lot of voting enemies.. who might just want you out of office,next election…i know i’ll be one of them,i love my dogs and will defend them like i do my children,cuz they are part of my FAMILY!!!
I completly agree with you. I have a pit bull at home. I got him when he was about 4 months old, and he’s been nothing but a angel ever sice. My best friend had a baby last October,and also has the full brother to my dog and everythime they came over my pit was the first one at the door to give her a kiss. While we drank coffee, her little girl climed on top of the dog, and pulled his lips, and all he did was wag his tale. I am so pissed off at people who always tell me that he is going to turn on me. I am fortunate that we do not have a ban where I am from. I live in a town of about 200 people and as soon as they found out that we had a pit bull, the cop even came to visit. So i found a lot of information on pit bulls and I posted it around town. It is a bunch of BS. I also have a black lab who has a worse temperment than most dogs i’ve ever seen. I always say when someone is on my case about it, that it is all in how you raise them. A pit needs plenty of excersize, so everyday I take him out to my ranch, and he runs with the horses. I could not ask for a better dog. So people that have a problem about them better do a little bit more research on them. Ive seen cats meaner than any pit bull i’ve seen.
I CAN’T BELIEVE WE HAVE LOST OUR AMERICAN BULLDOG IN THE MIST OF THIS PIT BULL LOCKDOWN. OUR KANSAS CITY,KS FAMILY WATHCHED THE NEWS AND WAS AWARE OF THE AMNESTY,BUT LITTLE DID WE KNOW THAT OUR DOG WOULD BE CONSIDERED A PIT BULL BECAUSE OF HIS CHARACTERISTICS. I WANT TO WARN EVERYONE OUT THERE THAT YOU COULD BE FINED JUST LIKE OUR FAMILY IF YOU HAVE AN AMERICAN BULLDOG OR ENGLISH BULLDOG. THE COMUNNITY HAS NOT BEEN INFORMED IN DETAIL OF WHAT HAS BEEN BANNED AND WHAT DOGS ARE ALLOWED. WE WERE TOLD BY THE ANIMAL CONTROL WHEN THEY PICKED UP OUR DOG FROM OUR BACK YARD THAT OUR DOG HAD TOO MANY PIT BULL CHARACTERISTICS AND WOULD NOT BE ALLOWED BACK IN KANSAS CITY,KS. ANIMAL CONTROL DID NOT WANT TO LOOK AT OUR VET PAPERS OF SHOT RECORDS THAT STATE OUR DOG IS AN AMERICAN BULLDOG. WE HAD TO SIGN OVER OWNERSHIP TO A PAOLA FAMILY MEMBER TO HAVE OUR DOG RELEASED FROM THE ANIMAL CONTROL CENTER ONLY TO SMELL OF URINE WHEN WE PICKED HIM UP. WE UNDERSTAND THE LAW, BUT WHERE DO THESE TYPE OF RESTRICTIONS END, ESPECIALLY EFFECTING GOOD FAMILYS THAT RAISE FRIENDLY ANIMALS. WE ARE SO SAD TO LOOSE OUR DOG, MY ONE YEAR OLD KEEPS SAYING “PUPPY”. I’M SO FRUSTURATED AND WANT TO TAKE ACTION, BUT NOT SURE WHERE TO START!
We love our Pit Bull!!! I knew he would need lots of exercise, care and attention. What dog doesn’t? However I wasn’t prepared for the scrutiny from family. Yet, there were 3 dog bites in our extended family from other breeds – My Father states he will not come to our home if we have a pit bull. Now the BSL! We wont even accept a promotion to move to Denver because of it! But the scariest thing to happen to us was when a complete stranger to our neighborhood stopped us to ask if we owned a pit bull and a german sheppard (we have two dogs one is a pit and other a mix breed). She attempted to claim our dogs attacked her. She wanted money for the Doctor bill. She stated someone told her we owned the dogs who attacked her. Now, our dogs have never been out loose. They are walked regularly on leads around our property. If we go out in the street our pit bull is mussled to protect HIM, obviously from people like this! There are all kinds of people out there to protect your pit bull FROM. These were just things I never expected to have to worry about when I fell in love with the breed. I will never have any companion other than a Pit Bull Terrier!
Pit Bulls are great! Nice letter Jason!
I TOO NEARLY GET PHYSICALLY ILL WHEN I THINK OF WHATS GOING ON AGAINST OUR BULLY DOGS. IT MAKES ME…..WELL FIGHTING MAD!!!!! AND FIGHT I THINK WE MUST DO. HAS ANYBODY EVER TALKED WITH THE NRA (NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION)..AS A NRA MEMBER I KNOW THE COMPASSION AND COMMITMENT THAT GUN OWNERS HAVE AND THEY TOO FACE A GOV’T THAT WANTS TO BAN SOMETHING DEAR TO THEIR HEARTS….WITH POWER IN NUMBERS AND THE NRA ALREADY HAVING LOBBYISTS IT WAS JUST A THOUGHT TO ALL JOIN UP TO FIGHT A GOV’T THAT FEELS BANNING THINGS IS THE ANSWER
Its all… stupid! to put it nicely! my mom seen a puppy pitbull in a shopping centre near us, and i said ‘mom look at that pitbull!” she thought it was the cutest dog ever! and then she said, but that hasnt got the face of a pitbull! obviously she has never seen one before other wise shed know pitbulls are extremely goodlooking dogs and are most possibly the best breed outthere concerning what you can get out of them, love, loyalty protectivness etc. I feel incredibly angry when people judge pitbulls by all the bad hype you hear about them, but they never ever hear anything good about them! If people wernt so arrogany and actually spent time to get to know pitbulls and here about the incredible things they do for people (rescue etc), then i KNOW they would have a better reputation. im only 15 and have begun to love this breed through first encountering staffs, and irish staffs! and if im only 15 then why cant people double my age, with jobs, a house, kids etc see this if there ‘soo responsible’?!?! sorry if ive blabbered on too much! :D just telling you that you have a wkd website and keep up the work. p.s your dogs look amazing!
Hi Jason-
Great letter! Been a long time since we chatted…
You should publish that blog in a national newspaper. ;)
Hope you and the girls are well!
Cheers
Candi
(pibblegrl at
PBF
Pit Bull Talk
and
pits and pets)
Jason… all I can say is that YOU ROCK! Everything you write is exactly how I feel and what I agree with, only you put it so well!
I’m definitely going to link this letter on the I Heart Paws Forums, I just love it!
Keep up the good work!
Christina
I live in Baltimore MD and own a 1 yr old pitt. She is such a sweetheart. Her personality blows other breeds away. I hate when people stare at me with her in public and talk about her.People say they feel threatened by pitts that is why they should be banned, but yet when you are threatened by a person nothing is done about it. If only people would stop being so damn hard headed they too would appreciate pit bulls the way we do.
Where are the voices for BSL? Strangely quiet… These cowards do not arm themselves with facts, a luxury they are somehow entitled to enjoy (kind of like when uninformed people vote). They are an intractable group who feel compelled to enforce their misguided opinions at the cost of thousands of wonderful animals and owners.
What amazes me is the self righteousness with which they *protect* us from these vicious animals.
Myself, I would prefer to ban children. Especially children who live in the city. I mean c’mon, parenting has nothing to do with the horrible little monsters that they WILL turn into. Guns, gangs, loud music, drugs. These little monsters are no good. Perhaps we can start with some abstract statistics to narrow it down to minority children, or maybe just boys, I mean, they ARE the most dangerous as everyone knows. Let’s keep our neighborhoods safe and get this menace off the street.
Of course I don’t mean it, but I hope you understand what I do mean. This is the kind of thinking these people exibit. It makes me wonder what they will ban next.
Jason, thank you for your letter. You nailed it on the head.
PS. If a BSL supporter does decide to attempt an intelligent argument, please, please, I’m dying to hear what one actually sound like.
-e crist. Owner of zero children and one very big american bulldog.
My son and I recently adopted a pitbull from our local shelter. Before doing so I did extensive research on the breed. I agree with you completely. These animals have been unjustly given a bad reputation. Banning them will only make matters worse. Yes there are irresponsible pitbull owners. But there are many more responsible ones and we shouldn’t be punished for these idiots and their action. I love this dog he has been a wonderful,loving and affectionate addition to our family.