Is Breed Specific Legislation only targeting a symptom of an overarching problem?

BSL is a pathetic waste of time for many reasons.

1) The people responsible for fighting their dogs and training them to 'attack' don't respect the law any way. Since animal laws are rarely enforced due to funding and lack of concern this means that the responsible pet owners suffer while the irresponsible continue making money off their dog's pain/misery.

2) Not all dogs classified as 'pit bull' type are even close to being pit bulls. By the wording of most BSL laws, any dog who fits the description of a 'pit bull' can be confiscated and killed. This includes block-headed labs, mastiffs, rottie mixes, boxer mixes, American bulldogs etc.

3) Once 'pit bull' type dogs are gone the law makers and activists will turn on other breeds one by one until there are no dogs because ANY dog will bite under the right conditions.

Breed-specific legislation is a waste of time. It is up there with "activity specific" legislation - like talking on a cell phone when driving... This should be classified under "Don't drive while distracted". I have yet to see the law (or even hear/read discussion) on "don't apply makeup while driving" or "Don't shave while driving" but I see that regularly on my commute.

Other dogs are already used as guards... German Shepherds, Doberman Pinschers, Canary Presarios and others... as for fighting, any big, fast, mean dog will do. Heck even little, fast, mean dogs will do... Creating new breeds takes too much effort.

I think the knee-jerk, emotional, reaction of the people mauling that gets the press running on overtime drags the political (non-expert) process into the mix.

"Snowball" was a hamster on "Pinky and the Brain" and he wanted to take over the world like Brain... So... Maybe.. I guess...

You are correct. They would just turn to other dogs.

But maybe then people would see it's NOT just "Pit Bulls" attacking or killing people.

There is a list of potentially banned dogs that include PUGS, GREAT DANES, Huskies, etc.

Here is a link of DOG ATTACKS by breeds that are NOT popular in the news:

http://workingpitbull.com/fatalbook.htm

I believe that the people who get a tough and train a dog to be agressive would move on to another breed. It would be an akita or other larger breed. The bans will not prevent this. The only thing to prevent it is training and responcible ownership