Years have gone by and slowly but surely I have figured out who, in large part, is responsible for anti-pit bull laws and who supports them. You may know these organizations very well and you may even support them. Hopefully that will change after you read this article.

Who is backing BSL laws across the country?

There are three main organizations…

1. PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals)
2. HSUS (Humane Society of the United States)
3. ASPCA. (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.)

As I said, you may or may not support these organizations and you may or may not know the extent in which they support anti-pit bull laws like mandatory spay and neuter or severe restrictions like muzzling dogs and putting them on ridiculously short 2 foot leashes.

How do these organizations support anti-pit bull legislation?

1. PETA’s president Ingrid Newkirk openly states, “People who genuinely care about dogs won’t be affected by a ban on pits. They can go to the shelter and save one of the countless other breeds and lovable mutts sitting on death row through no fault of their own. We can only stop killing pits if we stop creating new ones. Legislators, please take note.”

Does that sound like a Pit bull friendly supporter?

2. HSUS openly criminalizes Pit Bull owners and while they say they do not support breed specific legislation they do support the mandatory spay/neuter of Pit Bulls. Is that not breed specific legislation?

3. ASPCA. I’m more than a little miffed at these folks. They are turning into PETA wanna be’s and animal rights nut jobs. On their web site they openly support “guardianship” over “ownership” of animals. This means if you are a guardian and not an owner you do not have the right to fight for your rights and they can take your dog, anytime, any place, for any reason.

Check out this little snippet of information: “For example, can we continue to use animals in medical research and for human consumption and still consider ourselves their guardians?”

Do you eat meat? You won’t if they have their way. Are you tired of people dying of Cancer and AIDS? You won’t have a chance if they have their way. PETA is on the exact same line with these beliefs. No meat, no medical research, no ownership, just free animals free to do whatever they want.

These organizations are masters at manipulating the media to their point of view and we, as Pit Bull owners, need to really take notice and stop all support for these organizations and anyone who does support them.

Sadly, some well known Pit Bull rescues are supporters of the HSUS and acutally supported breed specific legislation against Pit Bulls in California. This bill, which is law now, gives cities the right to ban or restrict any breed or type of dog they want to. This goes directly against the states own laws. Yet, they found a loop hole, planted these laws, and now you are in BSL land.

Mandatory spay/neuter for Pit Bulls is breed specific legislation. I am repeating myself because many people believe this is not BSL and they believe it is a good thing. A good thing? If you can not breed the dogs how will they live into the future? They won’t right. It’s called eradication through desteralization.

For non-pit bull owners out there these laws will effect you too. Mark my words, it is not just “pit bulls” getting banned. There are dozens of breeds being added to these bans all the time and more are sure to come.

In short, Animal Rights activist are not your friend. The HSUS is not your friend. The ASPCA is not your friend. They will not swoop in to help you when your dog is being taken away. You are your dogs hero and you are the one that needs to step up and vote your anti-dog/pit bull legislators out of office and put pro-pit bull/dog legislators into office.

Until we have a political voice, our dogs are in danger. Take this seriously and really look at these organizations web sites. You’ll see for yourself, they are not going to help us. They are, if anything, going to help put the nail in your dogs coffin and see that you are moved out of your house and city because you are now a criminal that shouldn’t be there.

Until Next time,
Jason, Angel, Honey and Patch

Http://www.PitBullLovers.com

A few examples of anti-dog laws that target Pit Bulls:

1. Anti-Tethering laws. While on the surface this may seem like a good idea there are a lot people out there who can not have fences and this requires the dog to be tethered. That is just one thing that would cause someone to tether their dog. There are many more.

Tethering, when done properly and with thought is not cruel to a dog. People neglecting the dog and tying it out to a dog house on a 200 lbs chain is cruel. Not all Pit Bull owners do this though. This is just another way of slipping anti-pit bull laws through the cracks.

It is also a way for PETA and animal rights groups to “free” animals. Think I’m kidding? Not by a long shot.

2. Mandatory Spay/Neuter Laws. Again, while on the surface you might be saying, that would be a great thing! I say, no, it would not be great. Funny how some cities have passed this laws with support from Pit Bull owners and dog lovers.

What I don’t get is, why are only Pit Bulls and Pit Bull type dogs targeted here? This is simply a less harsh form of BSL that slips through the cracks.

3. Anti-Penning and Caging laws. These laws will make it illegal to kennel your dog. Period. You will not be able to take them to a boarding kennel (they will be out of business after all) and you will not be able to kennel your dog in your house or outside.

This type of law is an extension to anti-tethering laws. Aka, Freeing the animals from bondage, aka PETA.

4. Changing the wording from owners to guardians. I wrote a blog post a while back about being a guardian to your dog. I was ignorant when I wrote that. While I don’t view my dogs as property but by law they are viewed as my property.

I do believe that being a guardian figure in your dogs life is good. However, I also have come to re-think the situation and now believe that we are dog owners as well.

Let me tell you why I changed my mind. The law. Simple really. If the wording is changed to guardian and we are no longer owners that makes our dogs like foster kids. Not property. In regards to the law you do not have any rights when it comes to foster status. In other words, they can take your dog from you and you can not fight them using the legal system.

The 14th amendment states: ” Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

I put the text that applies to our situation in bold. If we change our status to guardian this no longer applies and we have no legal legs to stand on. A new Pit Bull supporter brought this to my attention and I thank her for that.

Here is a little snippet from the 5th amendment: “nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”

Again, without ownership this does not apply to us anymore.

I would like you to think about this. How does this affect you? This means that you have rights as a dog lover. This means you can vote and take a stand against these illegal laws that are being passed at an alarming rate.

This means you and I have a legal voice. Now we need to get out there and use it.

I mentioned in my last post one thing you can do is start a blog. That is a great first step. Blogs get attention from search engines and people love to read them. Start one up and get blogging. You can get a blog at Blogger.com or Typepad.com. Starting your own Pit Bull/Dog Lover blog is not that hard and it is a great way to start a campaign to challenge these laws and help the general public understand our side of the story.

So get blogging!

Best Regards,
Jason, Angel, Honey and Mr. Patches
The Most Complete Pit Bull Information Site on the World Wide Web