I’m torn on what to share and what not to share about pitbulls.
Sometimes when we share certain messages, we end up reinforcing the exact stereotypes we’re trying to avoid.
See my post, pitbull memes doing more harm than good.
So when I see well-intentioned memes and message floating around, I am careful about what I share.
Keeping that in mind, I liked the following infographic, but it is not perfect. It’s impossible to create an infographic (or to write a blog post) where everyone ends up agreeing 100 percent.
In this case, I especially like the information towards the end related to breed-specific legislation and how at least 17 states no longer allow municipalities to pass breed-specific laws. It also explains how BSL wastes money and does nothing for public safety.
Take a look at the graphic, and then let’s have a discussion on what kinds of pitbull messages we should and shouldn’t be sharing. I don’t have the answer, so I’m curious to hear what you have to say.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
From K9 of Mine:
Do you have any examples of how BSL is harmful?
Let me know in the comments!
Related posts:
Why There Are Plenty of Homes for All the Pitbulls
Why We Need Dog Awareness, Not Pitbull Awareness
National ‘Dog Farting’ Awareness Day
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antidog
Saturday 5th of November 2022
breed specific is bullshit, ALL dogs should be culled
Jill
Monday 10th of August 2015
I think the infographic would be more useful if it looked at dogs bites, which are much more common, instead of fatalities. I think (or I like to think) the conclusion would be the same - that breed doesn't matter.
Lindsay Stordahl
Monday 10th of August 2015
Yes, possibly. Thankfully, it's very rare to be killed by any type of dog. I believe there have been around 17 people or so killed by dogs in the U.S. each year in the last few years.
Jen Gabbard
Monday 10th of August 2015
BSL is ridiculous; and unfortunately I live right next to a town that has it so our county animal shelter won't adopt out anything that looks like a Pit or Pit mix - and there's a ton of them that end up there. Luckily there are some rescues that work with them to get 'em pulled but there never seems to be enough. Every time I go on craigslist there's people selling Pit puppies, yet there are so many ones in shelters... It's extremely frustrating.
Lindsay Stordahl
Monday 10th of August 2015
That's hard when the shelters won't adopt out any "pitbull" type dogs. I'm glad they're at least working with rescue groups.
Chris
Wednesday 5th of August 2015
As yet Australia does not have real BSL legislation but breed discrimination is very evident. Whilst some dogs are banned from entry into Australia, staffies and the like just have to overcome stereotyping. Cross bred dogs including staffies appear to be the greatest problem, they are unpredictable compared to pedigree dogs. As a staffy owner I know many staffy dogs, a number of them have an Alpha dog syndrome where they try and dominate the other dog but I have never seen a trained/socialised staffy harass a person. Unfortunately staffies sense fear in animals which does seem to encourage a dominance tendency and is very hard to train out of the dog. These dominating tendencies are then transposed from other dogs to "staffies must attack people too" which we all know is not true. Thankfully as per your infographic our legislators cannot seem to see the benefit of banning bull terriers.
Lindsay Stordahl
Thursday 6th of August 2015
Hi Chris. I can tell how much you care about dogs. One thing I try to do is avoid generalizations about any type of dog, whether its crossbreeds, purebred dogs or a certain breed. I try to look at every single dog as an individual and judge the dog in front of me by his or her actual behavior. The more people who can do that, the better.
Anna
Wednesday 5th of August 2015
I don't share "more-people-are-killed-by-sharks-than-pitbulls" kind of messages. I like reading about real life friendly dogs, despite their breed, like this post: http://teamunruly.com/?p=8005 I can relate as a non-pitbull dog owner.
Lindsay Stordahl
Thursday 6th of August 2015
Yes, great post!