I feel sorry for pit bull owners. A Denver District Court upheld a citywide ban on the breed, and this week, animal-control officers have been knocking on doors and loading the dogs into the backs of their trucks.
The stories about pet owners turning over their perfectly healthy, perfectly behaved dogs are terribly sad. Their pit bulls might be the most gentle creatures on Earth, yet the dogs are going to be put to sleep. I don’t blame pit bull owners for wondering why their pets have to pay for the crimes of a few bad dogs.
Denver lawmakers probably are guilty of overreacting to pit bull attacks nationwide, and it’s probably unfair to punish one breed when there are many others who are also guilty. Earlier this week, two Alaskan malamutes killed a 7-year-old girl in Fruita. Do we add them to the list, too?
It’s definitely not an easy call, but while I concede that the law might be an overreaction, it’s hard to blame Denver officials for passing it. The government has a duty to protect us from one another, so if my neighbor drives drunk, brews chemicals in his basement, shoots at squirrels with a .22-caliber rifle or keeps an aggressive dog in the backyard, he starts to impinge on my rights.
Since we know that any dog can be dangerous, why ban pit bulls? Many pit bull owners have mentioned anti-bias laws, but they’re not a good fit for the situation. Anti-discrimination laws protect people because, despite all of our stereotypes, a person’s skin, gender, race, religion, disability or sexual orientation won’t tell you whether he will pay his rent on time, put in a hard day’s labor or easily learn new tasks.
It’s hard to transfer these protective laws to dogs, because dogs are not all equals. For centuries, they, and other domestic animals, have been deliberately bred to possess certain physical and behavioral traits.
Dog shows – and sporting events like last weekend’s Kentucky Derby – celebrate the accomplishments of selective breeding. An animal with the right pedigree is supposed to have a certain look, walk, athletic ability and temperament.
Cocker spaniels may have deadly potential, but law enforcement agencies aren’t training them as police dogs. Clearly, German shepherds must have physical and intellectual abilities that are better suited to the demands of police work.
Many dogs can run, but pure-bred greyhounds, not sheepdogs, race professionally. Many dogs can track, but bloodhounds seem to have a nose up on the competition. Many dogs can hunt, but retrievers are better than most.
Of course, not every dog is pure-bred, and even those that are may not display the traditional look or behavior of the breed. Yet, we can’t ignore the reality that breed says something about the dog’s potential. Even pit bull owners must believe this; otherwise there would be no reason for them to love pit bulls more than poodles. There must be something about the way the breed looks or acts that appeals to them.
City planners have good cause to worry over the types of dogs that people own. Dogs are likely to come into contact with many people. How will they react to stressful situations? Will they cower and run away or attack? When children pull on them, will they be endlessly patient or will they snap?
These are important public safety questions, and breed is the natural starting place in the search for answers. Is Denver’s ban unfair to pit bull owners? Yes. Are most pit bulls good dogs that would never hurt anyone? Probably. But the stakes are so high that I don’t think it’s unreasonable for the city to set its policy based on the worst-case scenario.
I feel sorry for pit bull owners, but I agree with the city.
