There are very few things that get me grumpy; a late meal is definitely at the top of the list, but so is when humans cast dogs in an unfair and harmful light. Yesterday morning, a page of the Bangor Daily News, one of our local papers, was left out for my mom’s perusal. The original intention was for her to read an article about a therapy dog who recently received a number of awards. What caught my mom’s eye instead, and caused my annoyance, was an article with the glaring headline “Dog Maulings Disturb Waterville Police Chief” (feel free to read the article for yourself here). Without even reading the article, it was blatantly clear it was going to be another diatribe about the “dangers” of pit bull ownership. In this case, after a pit bull was euthanized after the dog bit a 2-year-old and 6-year-old human child, Waterville Police Chief Joseph Massey has decided to launch a campaign against, as the article states “dogs that are known to be aggressive, such as pit bulls, Rottweilers and German shepards” and to keep these “aggressive” dogs “away from kids.” Massey even went so far as say he believes the Waterville City Council should enact a breed specific legislation to ban these dogs.
I have been vocal in the past about how unfairly I believe pit bulls and other “vicious” dog breeds are treats by humans, especially in the news. What irritated me so much about this specific case is that there was absolutely no mention about why. Why did the dog bite those two human children? It is very, very rare that a dog will just bite without a reason, and especially without a warning. It is a human default to jump to needing vengeance for and act without looking into the details. Were the children prone to teasing the dog? Should the dog have been better suited in a home without children? How many times did the dog warn the children, or show signs of stress and anxiety before finally biting? By asking these questions, I am not trying to say that the children in anyway deserved what happened to them. In fact, it hurts my puppy heart that they were injured to the point of being hospitalized. I pose these questions because this is what humans need to think before jumping to the conclusion that because a dog bites it means they are vicious and without reason.
The Bangor Daily News article did, however, offer support for the dog breeds Massey is targeting through the expertise of Susan Bell, the director of the Bangor Humane Society. Bell says, as do many of the humans who support the pit bull breed (and what I agree with) that it is “up to the owners to properly train [their dogs]” and that “all breeds have the potential to attack when provoked.” It is up to the owner, the human that decides to bring a dog into their home, a home they may be sharing with young children, to know whether or not that the dog is appropriate in their home and to take responsibility for what that dog does. It seems like common sense, but sadly it is not.
Sadly, I don’t think this will be the last time there will be an inflammatory article that blames an entire breed for a single dogs actions. This attitude that dogs can just “snap” and that certain breeds are disposed to “viciousness” will not go away until the attitude about responsible dog ownership changes for all humans. In the meantime, I will be, as always, continuing to help stop the “vicious dog” stereotype and I will be keeping my paws crossed that a breed ban will not be enacted in Waterville.
Happy tail wags.
P.S. I just learned from a facebook post by The Maine POM Project that municipalities, like that of Waterville, are not allowed to adopt breed-specific ordinances, laws, or regulations. While this removes the immediate threat of a BSL being put into place, it still doesn’t help to remove the stigma.
