From the "Norwich Bulletin" - 7/1/2000
"No Bad Breeds, Only Bad Owners"
"It happened right here in Connecticut. A man called his German Shepherd to go for a ride. From the corner of his eye he noticed a woman walking and before he could stop his dog, Bandit started to chase her. The result was, despite the man's diligent effort to stop his dog, the woman was repeatedly bitten. This was the only time Bandit had ever bitten someone.
She landed in the Berlin pound for five months while her fate was being decided. Her life was spared, but she must be kept within a fenced in area or wear a muzzle whenever she is outside. And after twenty-five years without a homeowner's insurance claim, Bandit's owner was dropped like a hot potato.
As the number of dog bite reports increase, we see more restrictive laws, costlier insurance policies and educational campaigns. Since 1986, the number of dog bites have steadily increased. At this time, every day, dogs bite more than 900 people! State Farm Insurance paid out more than $80 million in dog claims in 1997. This had led to insurance restrictions that sometimes target specific breeds.
The hit list typically includes Pit Bulls, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers, Rottweilers, Dobermans and German Shepherds. These are the dogs commonly regarded as prone to aggression. There are even advocates who want to ban these breeds from city limits and insist the number of dog bites will drop dramatically.
The truth is breed specific laws discriminate against responsible dog owners who properly train and socialize their dogs. Everyone knows that any dog can bite if provoked, and I have personal knowledge that makes me more wary of nippy Chihuahuas and Jack Russell Terriers than a Rottweiler.
So vicious breed laws are not going to stoop dog bites. What these laws will do is incite fear, kill thousands of healthy, innocent dogs and prevent proper veterinary care because owners won't want the authorities to know what breed of dog they own if it has been banned in their municipality.
What should be done to help stop this wave of dog attacks? Seek laws that deal with proven dangerous dogs of any breed and punish the owners who allow their dogs to roam unleased. I had an instance where my neighbor's Labrador Retriever (not a "vicious dog") attacked my cat and growled at me when I tried to chase him from my yard. So there is absolutely no breed that has all vicious dogs or all friendly dogs.
And what needs to happen is that owners must take responsibility in training and socializing their pets or face the consequences if their dog bites someone.
In general though, dog owners nationwide are finding it more difficult to obtain homeowner's or renter's insurance. The alternative is to buy pricey liability policies. Responsible dog owners who have had insurance policies for decades are now receiving cancellation notices because they own a German Shepherd, and their company has deemed the breed a dangerous dog!
Nationwide no longer provides homeowner policies for owners of Pit Bulls, Dobermans and Rottweilers because they have been identified as vicious dogs. Metropolitan Life, Auto and Home does not automatically reject dog owners, but if you have a Pit Bull, Doberman, Rottweiler, German Shepherd, Siberian Husky, Chow, Alaskan Malamute or Dingo, you must provide letters from your veterinarian and dog obedience school certificate to be considered for insurance coverage.
And State Farm is the fairest of them all, not discriminating against any specific breed, but weighing every individual dogs' disposition and history of biting in their decision to provide coverage. On the other hand Ohio State Farm does not provide coverage for Pit Bull owners as many cities have banned the breed.
The American Dog Owners Association (ADOA) has battled breed specific proposals for years. They rely on calls, emails and letters from dog owners to alert them about pending legislation in the different states. They stopped a law banning Pit Bulls in Hollywood, Florida in 1997 and again in 1999. In the 23 years they have been fighting breed specific laws, they have won over seventy per cent of their cases. Their biggest success is that twelve states so far have laws outlining methods to control dogs, but are not breed specific. For more information about the ADOA, email them at
[email protected] or call them at 518-477-8469.
The American Kennel Club works hard to update members on pending dog laws, including breed specific or "dangerous dog" legislation. And the Humane Society is working with insurance companies to both cut down insurance costs and still protect responsible dog owners. If insurance companies would ask dog specific questions (Where is the dog kept, has it had obedience training, etc.) instead of lumping all dogs of one breed together, it could save the insurance companies money and make sure at risk owners are properly insured.
In all the years I have worked in animal rescue, I have only been bitten once. Not by a Pit Bull (and I handle lots of them), not by a Rotti or a Shepherd. I was bit by a Dachshund. Go figure."
. He will bite people on the front porch (or at least their clothing). (He tore the lacket off the man who came to install our DSL line although he didn't hurt him.) And then there was the jogger incident when my husband accidentally let him out of the fenced yard.
