(Editor’s note: A letter received by NorthIowaToday.com that our readers might find interesting.)
To the People of Mason City, Iowa.
My name is Crystalann, and I am emailing you in response to having read an article on the “stopbsl.com” website. On this page, I read that Mason City Iowa is considering a breed specific legislation ban (also called a BSL ordinance): and that is my reason for deciding to contact you today.
While I do not live in Mason City, and live in a city that does not ban nor restrict any breed of dog, BSL affects everyone, regardless of where they live, or what type of dogs that they own. I have owned dogs all of my life, and until I educated myself, I had stereotypes about certain dog breeds as well. Thankfully, I was open-hearted and open-minded enough to be willing to learn, listen, and wittness that the rumors about these dog breeds were incorrect, and undeserved. I am hoping that you, and the other people of Mason City will be able to show the same compassion and understanding now as well.
I ask that you not consider a breed – specific law: instead, do what is fair and just for all citizens of the United States of America, as well as the dogs that we love: instead of banning or restricting a specific breed of dog because of it’s breed, it’s name, or it’s appearence, restrict or ban dogs based upon the dog’s individual personality and history. A dog that is dangerous should be considered dangerous by it’s own actions, and even then, you should understand that it’s actions were raised as a result of the home and owners who have been responsible (or irresponsible, as the case may be) for the upbringing and training of the dog in question. Even poodles have teeth, and if they are unsocialized, wrongfully handled or kept, and have poor upbringing, they can be just as vicious, if not moreso, than your so called “pit bull” breeds.
Furthermore, myself, as well as several other bulldog owners wish that the law would further specify what a “pit bull” is. There is NO official breed recognized by the AKC as a “pit bull”. It is a stereotyped given name that can apply to many dog breeds: from Boston Terriers to Boxers. A “pit bull” is a dog that fights in a fighting ring (called a “pit” by those who do this cruel and inhumane sport) and the term “bulldog” can apply to any breed of dog with the traditional bulldog or pug-nosed face. No responsible, self – respecting dog owner would EVER refer to their dog as a “pit bull”, and I certainly do not.
Before passing this law, I ask that you do your research – properly. Not listening to councilmembers who have no certification in animal behavior or veterinary medicine. It is unfair and unAmerican that a dog that was once called “America’s Dog” is to be banned and restricted for nothing other than having a stigma, placed upon them by irresponsible and uneducated owners, media, and people of the public. These are wonderful dogs – a dog’s law is only that of their master, and they will follow their master’s bidding, regardless of what laws we put in place.
BSL and vicious dog laws should be breed-neutral, and apply only to dogs who have proven themselves vicious or dangerous: not because of their breeds, but because of actions that they have themselves earned. Being the proud owner of an American Staffordshire Terrier (-NOT A PIT BULL!-) I would be ashamed for my city or state, which I am expected to show pride and respect for, to make a law that says my dog should be judged upon the actions of another, when I am a responsible dog owner and someone else was not. It is unfair, unjust, and against everything that I believed the American law and rights to stand for.
Dogs have given so much to people, and to our country, that banning a dog based upon their breed, name, or appearence, is nothing short of disrespectful, and is certainly a form of racial prejudice. There have been so many of these dogs – good dogs – who have been torn out of the loving arms of their good families, away from the home that they have known and the people – and other animals – that they have loved, all because some people cannot see what is right and what is wrong.
Nobody would deny that a dog who poses a danger to society should be allowed to do so – even those of us against BSL. We just ask that it is fair. I personally have known someone who had their dogs taken away from them in a city that did enforce BSL – and their dogs were the nicest, sweetest, move loving creatures on the face of the earth. They were euthanized, leaving a single mother to explain to her children where her dogs had gone. Yet I also know someone who was a cruel and irresponsible dog owner, who had a lab mix who had bitten several people – all of the incidents being reported to the authorities and resulting in injuries of varying degrees – and he was allowed to keep ownership of his dog, because it was not viewed as a “vicious breed”. This is prejudice and a form of unjustice, not just to dogs – but to the people.
I’m sure that growing up you had seen the movies “the Little Rascals” – and you should surely recall that Petey was what you call a “pit bull”. Popsicle is the #1 customs dog of the United States and is on the K9 Police dog team for Texas, and she was rescued from a freezer during a drug bust – she too is a “pit bull”. Sergeant Stubby died on March 16, 1926, as a hero, yet today, many people do not know who he is. Sergeant Stubby is the most decorated dog in military history, and the only dog to have been promoted during battle. He fought for 18 months in the trenches for France during WW1 for 17 battles. Stubby warned his fellow soldiers of gas attacks, located wounded soldiers in No Man’s Land, and listened for oncoming artillery rounds. He was also responsible for the capture of a German spy at Argonne. After his time in the war, Stubby met Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge, and Warren G. Harding. He was, also, made a life member of the American Legion, the Red Cross, and the YMCA. He too, was a “pit bull.”
Please, share this email with your fellow councilmembers. Share it with the people of your city, with whoever you want. I just ask you to please, open yourself up to knowing the truth before you cause so much more heartbreak, especially in a time when the world needs to know what justice, freedom, and fairness really is.
For more information, please refer to the book “The American Pit Bull Terrier”, published by Terra-Nova, and written by Cynthia P. Gallagher, for more information and education.
Thank you.
Signed,
Crystalann – and my dog, Draiman.
