Recently me and my beloved 5 year old rescue 'pit bull' cross moved to Burnaby, BC because i needed to finish school and Simon Fraser University is a great school. Little did i know that i was moving to an area where Breed Specific Legislation still exists. In Burnaby, every owner of a vicious dog shall keep it muzzled while on a highway, park or other public place.

Under their bylaw and licensing they define a vicious dog as:

(a) a dog that without provocation has bitten or caused injury to a human being or to a domestic animal, but does not include a dog that has bitten or injured a trespasser, and

(b) a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, an American Pit Bull Terrier and any dog generally recognized as a pit bull or pit bull terrier and includes a dog of mixed breed with predominant pit bull or pit bull terrier characteristics.

Reading point A i can fully understand why any dog who has bitten or injured a human being or another animal should be deemed a vicious dog. Reading point B, as a owner of one of these mixed breeds, saddens me deeply.

To classify every dog because of their appearance would be like classifying family members of violent offenders as violent offenders. Just because some may be 'bad apples' does not mean they all are. I know this is a stretch in making my point, however to classify all on the actions of a few is silly.

The principle objective of this petition is to see change in the way people think of pit bulls. Many have never met a pit bull, rather they have only heard what the media portrays them as: dangerous, deadly, likely to bite, attacks children, harmful. Where in reality most of these dogs you meet are just like others: they love to run, they love to play, they love to cuddle, they love to give you kisses.

One of the big issues for these dogs is in their powerful stature. They have a very muscular body and a wide head, which leads people believe they are built to attack and bite.The Coalition for Living Safely With Dogs and the Colorado Veterinary Medical Association joined together to conduct a two-year study about how likely any given dog is to bite. They concluded that all breeds bite, and it was the circumstances around the incident – usually an unrestrained, uncontrolled dog running loose – that caused the bite.

A 2008 study in a Applied Animal Behaviour Science journal did identify some consistencies between breed and aggression towards strangers, owners, and dogs, they also noted that, “the substantial within-breed variation…suggests that it is inappropriate to make predictions about a given dog’s propensity for aggressive behaviour based solely on its breed.” They also state that, “the relatively average scores for stranger-directed aggression found among Pit Bull Terriers were inconsistent with their universal reputation as a ‘dangerous breed’ and their reported involvement in dog bite-related fatalities.”

Unfortunately, irresponsible owners tend to be attracted to strong breeds like pit bulls, Rottweilers, mastiffs and German Shepherds, mistreating these dogs, setting them up for failure, and perpetuating the negative stereotypes. Still, for every “aggressive” dog in a yard at the end of a chain, there are hundreds of others of the same breed living as gentle family pets and never making headlines

Instead of blaming the dogs, action needs to be taken against negligent owners. Harsher fines and punishments to those who abuse, neglect, or use dogs for fighting or any other mistreatment need to be looked at under a fine microscope. The key to reducing the number of dog bites and keeping people safe is not to ban an entire breed, but instead to make all dog owners accountable and responsible for their dogs’ behavior while encouraging them to raise their dogs appropriately.

It is my hope that this petition can generate enough signatures in which hopefully the city counsel of Burnaby and its Mayor can take a good hard look at their reasoning behind BSL and see that classifying pit bulls as vicious and requiring them to be muzzled in public is not the main issue at hand.These dogs are friendly, and loveable, and deserve to live a life where their reputation is not tarnished for others misdeeds.