Why? Popular breeds come and go. When ownership of one breed of dog is outlawed, those who want a dangerous dog simply turn to another breed. The Doberman pinscher—known as the dangerous dog breed of the 1970s—was replaced in popularity by the pit bull in the ’80s and the rottweiler in the ’90s.

Breed-specific laws require that someone be able to prove that a specific dog is a member, or a mix, of that breed—not always an easy task. Boxers and bulldogs, for instance, may be mistaken for pit bulls. Any medium-large sized black and tan dog with a long tail may be mistakenly labeled as a German shepherd.

Breed-specific legislation doesn’t acknowledge the fact that a dog of any breed can become dangerous. The law should protect your community from any such dog.

Breed-specific laws are difficult, costly, and sometimes impossible to enforce. It’s one thing to require that every rottweiler in your community be muzzled whenever outside of the home; it’s another to fund and support adequate animal control staff to ensure that this happens.

In 1987 the Cincinnati City Council banned all pit bulls within the city after a series of severe maulings and one human fatality involving the dogs. The ban was passed even though the state of Ohio and the city of Cincinnati already had statutes that allowed authorities to seize any dog known to have injured or killed a person or another dog. Nearly ten years later, the council’s law committee recommended that the ban be repealed, saying that it was unnecessary. The council recommended that pit bulls be handled like any other dogs and that owners be prosecuted only when the dogs were unrestrained or exhibited dangerous behavior. It made this recommendation in part due to the cost of enforcement. Confiscated dogs spent up to five months at the city’s contracted shelter while the cases against the dogs’ owners were being litigated. Many of the confiscated dogs were family companions with no history of aggression.

Legislation that restricts breeds may actually create a population of dangerous dogs within your community. When a community imposes strict regulations on a specific breed of dog, owners of those dogs may end up chaining or caging the dogs for long periods of time. Dogs so chained or caged can be so desperate for activity that they become uncontrollable should they escape. Restricted dogs often receive little veterinary care because it is difficult for their owners to transport them to a veterinary facility without violating restrictions. Most importantly, restricted dogs who don’t get to experience normal opportunities for socialization and training will undoubtedly act in an unpredictable fashion when exposed to the real world.

The HSUS advocates laws that penalize the owners of dogs, not the dogs themselves, for dangerous behavior.

Source: Humane Society of the United States