Is the banning of the Rottweiler breed an imaginary threat?...

[German Vanegas]

Unfortunately, dog breed bans and/or specific breed legislation is happening in the USA, Europe, all over!

We all know about the senseless draconian British Dangerous Dogs Laws, also imitated and followed-up in Singapore. Spain just enacted some high liability dog laws heavily penalizing ownership of certain breeds considered "dangerous". Holland has a so-called aggression testing designed to basically eliminate dog breeds with high drives and protection capabilities. In Australia protection and guard work has been outlawed. In Germany there are pending laws to be considered by the legislature to restrict certain breeds and ban protection dog training, including at the sport level. And the list goes on, and on. As you can see, the threat is very real.

The problem behind all this is that, due to UNETHICAL breeding and IRRESPONSIBLE dog ownership, specific dog breeds are being targeted by imposing heavy liability laws and in some cases just banning altogether certain breeds considered dangerous!... Instead of attacking the REAL problem, such as backyard unethical breeding, puppy farms or mills, and irresponsible idiots that raise dogs to fight, be mean, and attack people at will ("junkyard" dogs, the favorite kind for drug dealers to guard their "stash" houses), or just plain ignorant people who make all the mistakes in the world in raising a powerful dog and then an "accident" happen... sadly enough, we all, ethical breeders and truly responsible dog owners, will end-up "paying the price": our beloved breed is considered dangerous and bound to be either restricted or banned!

For your information, the European Parliament wants to ban anything that has to do with "bite-work" or "aggression training" as well as certain specific breeds with strong guarding instincts. You may feel safe and OK now, but as we speak political forces are moving towards imposing Dangerous Dog Laws EVERYWHERE... because it will spread out like a "wild fire".

Everybody likes to blame the Rottweiler for attacks, bites, and in some cases: dead people, but nobody researches the true root of the problem. Due to the breed's popularity for being a "natural guard dog", it has been widely over-bred by "wannabes" and then raised by imbeciles that are either ignorant, negligent, or both! So obviously this kind of badly bred and badly raised dog will have the potential to do some serious damage! what else is to expect?... and who is to blame? People don't blame the bad breeder or the stupid dog owner, but the entire breed!!!

The Media along with dog ignorant people are creating a paranoia that is gaining momentum in trying to ban many dog breeds including the Rottweiler.... the truth is, most dogs bites come from poorly bred, raised, and kept dogs... where 99% of such dog attacks come from improperly raised and untrained dogs!

... and here we are worrying about why the public is so unfair to our breed ?!?! instead about those potential dog laws that may eliminate our beloved breed completely... Most of you are missing the entire point... Sorry if it sounds too harsh but this is the way it is!

[This message has been edited by German Vanegas (edited November 09, 1999).]

German, I could't agree more!! People forget one small thing, There are no "bad" dogs just bad owners. There are no puppies born "evil"! Somebody taught them to be that way. Unfortunately the bannings will make rescue more needed than ever.

[German Vanegas]

luvmax&lexy,
Well, rescue would a "minor" problem when total banning is implemented... even the sport of schutzhund is changing its name to a politically correct name that doesn't translate "protection dog" trying to get pass by proposed legislation in Germany aimed to eliminate the protection part and also to restrict some dog breeds... and just to give you an idea as to how distorted the media transmits the news get this, recently there was a police manhunt on a criminal, the police used service dogs to track down the wanted individual... but do you know how the media portrayed the police dogs involved? one TV network said "policemen are in the area with GUARD dogs to find..." while another network said "police officers with ATTACK dogs are combing the area..." Now if the media wrongly portrays police dogs as GUARD and ATTACK dogs, imagine what they could say about a Rottweiler. Lately the media is suggesting: "ban those killer dogs"... and many people is listening



[This message has been edited by German Vanegas (edited November 08, 1999).]

[Mick Trainer]

German,

Great post! Total across the board bans of our breed is a very real concern. The legislation in Germany is also extremely scary as so many aspects of dog laws and dog related matters flow through from the german model.

I must also explain the laws here in Australia. Training dogs for personal protection is banned only in Victoria (the state where I live). Some Shutzund people recently went to court over the legislation where they won to quash a conviction against a dog being declared dangerous. The finding actually came in that a dog trained for shutzund was safer than one that was not. This for the current time has given everybody a bit of breathing space. We have a new state government which may help things along.

The medias ability to distort the truth and beat up a story by the use of inflametory language and footage can never be under estimated. Neither should the ability of such organisations to change and shape public opinion on such matters. Their job is to sell papers or to get viewers to view in. Grafic footage and exgerated wording do this. Telling it how it is never sold any papers. "The press never the truth get in the way of a good story".

I am glad to say that in recent times that there has been a recent shift towards the blame for dog attacks falling sqaurly on the shoulders of those that own the dog that caused the attack (breed is not considered here) and that recent legislation has stated that a dog defending it's owner or property is within it's rights and that the fault for that attack falls on the person found on the premises or doing the attacking. It is only a small step, but at least it is in the right direction.

Mick

[German Vanegas]

Thank you Mick... unfortunately most people don't want to believe it can happen... some choose tp live in denial as a defense mechanism... but again, it is already happening!... and most dog owners are not even paying attention to it

[belgium]

Well i always believed it could only happen to others , Until....One nigth , police came at our home telling us the came to take pictures of the dogs , the kennels and all facilities we had . Why we asked , answer was easy , a politician wanted to earn his stripes with election upcoming .He wanted to forbid my dogs.To make a long story short , i didnt came that far but that week costed me a year of my life.


[This message has been edited by belgium (edited November 16, 1999).]

[BIGWRIGHT]

WITH ALL THIS TALK ABOUT BANNING THE ROTTWEILER I COME TO REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED TO ME. I HAD JUST TRANSFERED TO WASHINGTON STATE BEFORE I GOT THERE THERE WAS AN ATTACK OF A LITTLE BOY WHO HAD HIS EAR BIT OFF BY A ROTTWEILER MIX. I HAD JUST GOT THERE AND TRIED TO FIND A PLACE FOR MY FAMILY AND I WE WERE DISCRIMINATED AGAINST IN THE WORST WAY. WE WERE TOLD THAT THERE IS NO ROOM IN THE INN FOR OUR DOG, A DOG THAT HAS NEVER DONE ANYTHING TO ANYONE WHEN WE DID FIND A PLACE IT WAS A LITTLE SUBSTANDARD BUT WE WANTED TO KEEP OUR DOG. WELL I THOUGH THAT WAS THE END OF IT NO SINCE WE LIVED ACROSS THE STREET FROM A SCHOOL WE WERE WATCHED BY POLICE TOLD SEVERAL TIMES ABOUT OUR DOG BEING IN THE FRONT YARD.

EVEN THOUGH HE HAD BEEN SEEN LICKING AND PLAYING WITH THE HALF OF THE CHILDREN. AT OUR LOCAL SHELTER WHERE I WORKED I WATCHED PEOPLE WHO GOT TIRED OF BEING HARRASSED BY POLICE AND OTHERS ABOUT THEIR DOGS THEY BEGAN TURNING THEM IN AND WE HAD A HARD TIME FINDING HOMES FOR THEM. THEN ANOTHER IDIOT WHO CLAIMS HE'S A BREEDER SOLD A COUPLE OF BAD ROTTIES THAT WERE JUST STRAIGHT AGGRESSIVE AND ATTACKED A POLICEMAN BY CHASING HIM OUT OF A GATE. THEY NOOSE GOT TIGHTER AND EVEN WE SENT OUR ROTTIE AWAY BECAUSE OF ALL OF THE CRAZINESS AND YOU WOULD HATE TO HEAR THIS PART BUT A VET (AND WE LIVED IN A SMALL TOWN) STARTED CHARGING EXTRA MONEY TO BOARD ROTTWEILERS SO NOT TO GET ANY AND ANOTHER VET REFUSED TO TREAT ANY ROTTWEILERS. OH YES PEOPLE THE THREAT IS REAL.

ALSO AFTER 48HRS REPORT WHEN THAT LADY IF YOU REMEMBER HAD THOSE THREE ROTTS AND STARTED SCHUTZHUND WITH THEM BUT STOPPED AT THE BITING PART UNTIL THE KILLED A LITTLE BOY IF YOU REMEMBER SHE WAS SENTENCED TO JAIL TIME, SHE WAS STUPID AND PROBABLY DESERVED IT BUT I E-MAILED 48HRS AND TOLD THEM THAT THERE STORY WAS VERY BIASED THAT NOT ALL PEOPLE ARE LIKE THAT AND THAT THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE ROTTWEILERS HAVE THEM AS LOVING PETS NOT KILLERS THE FACT THAT THEY HAVE THE INSTINCT TO GUARD IS JUST AND ADDED BONUS BUT THEY DON'T GO AROUND MAULING PEOPLE ALL DAY CHALKING UP SCORES OF THE PEOPLE THEY HAVE KILLED. THIS IS A THREAT THAT IS BECOMING MORE LIKE A PROMISE THAT WE NEED STOP I HAD A PITBULL BEFORE AND THEY MADE IT MANDATORY IN NY FOR PEOPLE TO HAVE 5,000 DOLLARS IN INSURANCE. IT'S GETTING CRAZY OUT THERE I WAS BIT BY A COCKER SPANIEL (THE NUMBER 1 BITING DOG) SHOULD WE GO ON THE HUNT FOR ALL OF THEM.

[Rottie Fan]

Hi there. I know that I haven't been on this message board in a long time but I have to talk to you guys tonight. Don't be surprised at all if you see a big change very soon. I'm talking about how many dog owners will be joining us in our fight to protect our right to own dogs. I have been going to hundreds of message boards and telling dog owners to visit Jan Cooper's message board because we need them to help us stop breed specific legislation. Well guess what? This is already starting to improve our situation because about 1,100 people have visited Jan's website in the past nine days. I will continue to do this but it is very hard for one person to do this all by herself. Could you guys and gals help me out with this project? The only way that we will stop breed specific legislation is to get extremely aggressive at recruiting dog owners to join us. Don't just get the owners of protective breeds of dogs to join us because I know that many owners of small and medium size dogs will help us out. The reason that I'm writing this is because I don't even own a Rottweiler or any other protective breed of dog. Both of my dogs are small dogs and I want to be able to own a Rottweiler some day. However, I can't own one right now. The fact that I don't own a protective breed of dog right now will not stop me from protecting my right to be able to own one. Please tell me what you think about my project.

[German Vanegas]

I am doing my part Rottie Fan, believe me, I am seriously proactive.

[Stacy White]

Thanks, Rottie Fan and all, for your proactive efforts. I proudly help Jan Cooper keep her Breed Specific Legislation page updated and I sigh with each setback and cheer with each success as if it was in my own community. Stay tuned to <A HREF=http://www.rott-n-chatter.com/rottweilers/laws/breedspecific.html>Jan's BSL page</A> for all the news!

------------------
Stacy White
slw9300@earthlink.net

[damp]

I can tell you for sure, that we are concerned in DK too. We only “need” one or two bite accidents and the Rottweiler will be banned. When the Pitt bull was banned some years ago, many people wanted the Rottweiler banned to. The Rottweiler is going to be very popular again these years, number six of the Danish chart of dogs. We have seen what happens - every time - when breeds get popular. All that look like a dog is breed without concideration to standard and temperament and sold to people who don’t know what is front or behind of the dog, before it show teeth. (The Dalmatians got real problems in DK by the reason of the film, and our heir presumptive’ very beautiful and popular princess owns a Dalmatian. Thank God that the heir presumptive didn’t bought that Rottweiler he was looking for. The magazines was filled up with substandard running commentaries)
A year ago The Danish Gymnastics and Athletics organisation with 1.4 mill members started a smear campaign against bite-work by the reason of totally ignorance. The DK Rottweiler Club with only 1340 members was very quick to take part and was able to keep this discussion in the two respective magazines of the organizations.
Some people are still working seriously to ban all bite work, even for police dogs. Unethical way to treat and train dogs, they said and behind them stand a howling choir of troublemakers and bandits. Unfortunately empty vessels make the most sound. Believe me, some so-called normal politicians do listen and smell votes.
God news: I heard some days ago, that the Swedish ban against bite-work is repealed.