Knee-jerk reactions and BSL Failure -- Australia Edition

Earlier this week, a four year old girl in Australia was tragically killed when she was attacked by her neighbor's dog -- which is being described as a "pit bull/mastiff cross". 

In spite of the story being picked up by more than 300 news sources around the world, there are few details about the evens that led up to the attack -- although it seems as if somehow the dog wandered into the home where the victim was staying (the victim was staying there because her own home burned down).

The media, and the politicians in the area have, of course, greeted the news not in a rational way, but by encouraging knee-jerk reactions and hysteria -- exactly the type of Panic Policy Making that leads to most breed specific legislation.

First, it should be noted that the state of Victoria, where the attack took place, already has very heavy restrictions on American Pit Bull Terriers -- where dogs have to be licensed, muzzled and altered in an attempt to allow these types of dogs to die out. The legislation has not helped curb dog attacks in Victoria in any way (and also note, because the attacking dog was a cross, the dog was not impacted by the current breed restrictions). 

However, following the attack, councils are being given more authority to go out and capture (and kill) any dangerous dogs they find. The Baillieu Government has now been given the power to enter properties and destroy "dangerous" dogs.

In spite of the current restrictions, the Herald Sun has scarily reported that you can easily "buy a deadly dog for $1500 online".   They are noting that in spite of the restrictions, the dogs are readily available -- and of course, "deadly".  They then ratchet it up a notch by noting that there are as many as 5000 of these "deadly" dogs in Victoria.  Whoa, that's SCARY. But wait. If they're all so deadly, how is it that only 1 of these 'deadly' dogs has been involved in an incident?  That's just .02% of these dogs that are supposedly predisposed to attacking?

Other areas are also jumping on the panic-policy-making bandwagon. The city of Orange (in NSW) has now already proposed a ban on several different breeds of dogs. 

The whole situation is exactly what happens when politicians and the media fall prey to the "hysteria of the moment" and start engaging in panic policy making. Fear is the most irrational of motivators and in the process, the government is ignorning the rational views expressed locally by experts in their veterinary and rescue communities who all agree that breed specific legislation is not a viable solution.

This is now knee-jerk policies happen -- when politicians cave to the hysteria of the moment and ignore the experts in their community.  It happens here in the US of course.  Our governments must do better -- and listen, observe, and seek out what other successful communities are doing to avoid these types of attacks. Because panic-policy-making is not a solution.

For more: Hysteria doesn't help solve our dog problems -- Saving Pets (AU)

 

Comments

[Zbyszek]

After each attack, the dog is a group of people who say that the cause of such accidents is a Pit Bull. The perpetrator is located, it calms public opinion and the media. They begin to look bad in August Pit Bull breed dog, whose breed could not find, because this simply is not. In England, looking back 20 years with the opposite effect.

[Yesbiscuit!]

How many innocent victims are killed by drunk drivers every year? And yet, if anyone dares to say we should ban liquor, there is an immense outcry from people saying how stupid and unfair this would be because MOST drinkers are responsible people who don't get behind the wheel while drunk and it's not fair to punish everyone based on the actions of a few, etc.

[Heather]

Great article. The fact of the matter is, when BSL is examined rationally, there is nothing about it that makes sense, and it certainly isn't effective. Punishing a large number of well-behaved dogs and responsible dog owners doesn't address the issue of why some dogs attack. Just posted briefly on this topic myself the other day at http://www.wellfur.com/2011/08/18/5-problems-with-breed-specific-legislation-bsl/ .

[kmk]

Great blog...but you're expecting a country that was fairly safe to begin with and then banned personal ownership of firearms in 1996 to act rationally?

Safe, or course, if you don't run into the fresh-water bull sharks or the salt-water crocs that eat anything that flies, swims, or walks. Oh, and where do the top ten most venomous snakes in the world reside? If you said, "Australia', give yourself a round of applause!

Australians turned in over 600,000 guns as part of a program that cost the government 500 million dollars. The result - all types of crime went up dramatically! Of course. The policiticans' explanation? they told people "it will work eventually - just be patient", and hope you don't get assaulted in the meantime, because assault went up 45%. Brent, it kind of reminds me of your "we're killing ourself to success" quote.

I think Australia, like the UK, thrives on a climate of fear. No one is allowed to own a gun in the UK yet they've managed to corner the market on bullet-proof glass. When Price Charles and Camilla's limo was attacked by the angry mob earlier in the year, people were surprised to find out it didn't have bullet proof glass. Heck, they probably RAN OUT before they got to his limo. Bullet-proof glass is even in little tiny post offices in quaint villages where it looks like Charles Dickens could just come walking down the path!

Hey, YesBisuit!, we MUST have liquor so we can read blogs like this and remain sane.

[Tonya]

Too many people believe that all "pitbulls" are viscious...thanks to the media. At an agility event here in So. CA a woman and her kids approached me and made so many negative comments about pit bulls as their kids were hugging, kissing, and watched my dog run the course, do tricks for children and the mother said what a great dog what is he? Well, he's an amstaff, the media would call him and 47 other breeds a pit bull! You should of seen her face. Too late,her two litlle 5 yr old girls were in love....and she liked him, too. They are not all killers.

[Hanna at Dog Products]

Until recently I did volunteer work at a few local emergency hospital centers and learned that the great majority of dog bits were perpetrated by the smaller breeds.

That is due to the fact that people view small dogs as if they were cute little stuffed animals, which they are not. So, to defend themselves against strange hands reaching out unexpectedly, they bite. On the other hand, the larger breeds inspire more respect and evoke more fear. Thus, people approach large dogs, if at all, with more caution which does not startle the animal and, therefore, does not provoke it to bite.

Bites from small dogs cause painful injuries. However, bits from large dogs like pit bulls often lead to fatalities because large dogs have larger bites with larger teeth and more jaw power.

I agree that the great majority of pit bulls are gentle but when one bites, it’s a serious!

[kmk]

Hanna, one of the things that came to light in 2006 when we were subjected to two awful, if not bizarre "pit bull" attacks in the KCMO metro was the preponderance of small dog bites.

In many cases bites by small dogs go unreported; however, someone with KCDA (I would give credit but I don't recall who it was, exactly) got the dog bite stats for Overland Park, KS and there were a lot more small dog bites than we were accustomed to seeing.

My agility instructor at the time, Joan Meyer, offered the following plausible theory, keeping in mind this is anecdotal - a large percentage of the population of Overland Park is WPW$ (white people with money). There is probably a larger percentage of small and Toy breeds in Overland Park. (one of my dog training clubs members is a pet sitter there, and she verified that possibility).

Most young children are bitten in the face, so now you have small dogs biting children in the face coupled with parents that are WPW$ that are worried about scars, so they take their children to the ER immediately, which means the bite gets reported. So, that could very well explain the high number of bites from small and toy breeds in Overland Park, KS.

When I was a kid I fell on a pile of bricks. The only reason I went to the doctor was someone finally suggested the possibility of tetanus. I still have the scar in my eyebrow (there went my modeling career, LOL) and I got stitches. I hate to think what it would look like if I hadn't gone to the doctor and had stitches.