What is BSL? | Helping K9s

familydogs-03 — The great American family dog

BSL stands for Breed-Specific Legislation and bans or restricts certain types of dogs based on their appearance because they are perceived as “dangerous” breeds or types of dogs.

A breed ban usually requires that all dogs of a certain appearance (“targeted breed”) be removed from the area wherein the BSL has been implemented.

Pitbullsdead2 — Result of the Denver Pit Bull ban

This means your perfectly behaved, docile and beloved companion could be illegal to reside in your city or state from one day to the next – and worse, end up like these after the Denver pit bull ban. After more than a decade of bans in many places, it is becoming apparent that banning “dangerous” breeds has not resulted in increased safety. There are now cities and counties considering lifting a ban. It is, after all, the owner responsibility and intention which makes a dog what it is.

The scientific studies that exist have indicated that BSL has little to no effect on public safety. In some cases, as in the U.K., dog bites appear to be a growing problem in spite of BSL.

Again, to date, there are no scientific studies anywhere that confirm BSL or breed bans have had a significant positive effect on public safety.

For example:
The Netherlands

The government of the Netherlands is looking into behavior-based, rather than breed-based, legislation. In June 2008, they announced the repeal of their 15-year-long ban on pit bulls due to its failure to ensure public safety. Dog bites continued to rise in spite of the ban.

In a study in Spain it was found that:

….. the most popular breeds (none of which were targeted by the legislation) were responsible for the most bites both before and after passage of the BSL. The targeted breeds accounted for a very small portion of bites both before and after passage of the BSL. The scientists concluded that there was no rational basis for Spain’s BSL.

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