Maryland just passed new legislation deeming pit bulls an “inherently dangerous breed.”
What does this mean? Bad news all around, for sure!
First of all, most people in the veterinary profession know that the way a dog is raised is more predictive of their behavior than their breed alone. Sure there are dangerous pit bulls, but there are also dangerous chihuahuas and jack russell terriers, yet no one is going to pass legislation against the toy breeds.
What is perhaps the saddest part of this new legislation is that it will result in more dogs ending up in shelters because owners cannot find housing or get home owners insurance because they own a pit bull.
Jen Swanson, executive director at the Baltimore Humane Society in Reisterstown, indicated, “We’re getting calls from people who are getting calls from their landlords telling them to move out”
Shelters are already overrun with pit bulls and there will clearly be fewer homes to adopt them out to with legislation like this which means more euthanized pit bulls (and believe me, they are already euthanized more often than any other breed in shelters).
Here’s a news article regarding the topic
I wish more people would realize that bad owners are the ones who are “inherently dangerous.”
I wish more people would realize that bad owners are the ones who are “inherently dangerous.”