Breed Specific Legislation (BSL), is a blanket term for laws that either ban or regulate certain breeds completely in hopes of reducing dog attacks. Now this may sound like a really good idea to some people, but if one takes the time to sit down and read what this law will actually be doing, it is clear that the law is trying to get the public to target one certain breed. This does not help actually find a real solution for dog attacks. What these people are trying to do is eliminate a type of breed they believe to be dangerous, either because of a personal experience or something they read or saw on TV. Today this law mainly seems to focus on pit bulls and any dog that might look like a pit bull or mix. .
On Monday, May 9, 2005, the Denver Division of Animal Control began enforcing a city-wide ban on owning pit bull terriers, and initiated an aggressive campaign of seizing beloved family pets, and killing them against their owner's will ("Pit Bulls in Denver" n.d.) his ordinance is an indiscriminate ban that demands the eradication and disposal of all dogs that are classified as pit bulls or pit bull mixes, even if the dog has never done anything wrong, and consistently remains confined to the owner's property. Dog owners who refuse to surrender their pets face up to a year in jail and a $999 fine. It also bans any shelters, rescues, or humane societies from "harboring" these breeds and forbid any US resident to travel through Denver with this type of breed unless they had a permit to do so. This is just one of the many cities that has this law in effect today. Sadly, in Denver alone there has been over 3,500 innocent dogs that have euthanized because of this ban, and yet the number of dog attacks has not been reduced or gone up since it's been in effect. .
Breed specific legislation just does not seem to work, because not only are good owners and dogs being punished, it also is very costly.
