Post by Aussienot on May 6, 2005 19:48:54 GMT -5
Owners of pit bull terriers and four other breeds of dog will face heavy fines for breeding, selling or giving them away under laws planned by the State Government. All pit bulls, American pit bulls, Japanese tosas, and Argentinian and Brazilian fighting dogs, already restricted breeds, will have to be desexed. To own restricted breeds in NSW, owners must be over 18, keep the dogs in child-proof enclosures and muzzle them in public. Properties where they are kept must display " dangerous dog" signs.
"We want to breed these dogs out of existence," the Premier, Bob Carr, said yesterday. "They are killing machines on a leash."
But pit bull owners and breeders have attacked the crackdown. Colin Muir, president of the American Pit Bull Club of Australia, said: "This was an opportunity for the Government to look at some realistic measures to reduce the number of dog attacks in the community, but unfortunately they have gone for the knee-jerk reaction." Mark, a Balmain pit bull owner who preferred not to give his full name, said he would refuse to allow his dogs to be desexed or put down.. "I'll send my dog away before I let them exterminate the breed."
Moves to eliminate the dogs follow two recent attacks by pit bulls on five-year-old Jordan Wisby at Illawong and a separate incident seriously maiming a 75-year-old man near Homebush.
Jordan's father, Steven, welcomed the move, but called for clearer rules to prevent dangerous dogs escaping from backyards. "I am relieved that they have seen sense - these dogs don't deserve to be in society," he said. The RSPCA described the move as wise. "It sends the message that if you are thinking of getting a pit bull, don't," said Bernie Murphy, the RSPCA's chief executive. "These are fighting dogs. They are totally inappropriate animals to have in a residential community."
The dogs are not allowed to be imported and are already banned in Queensland and South Australia. Queensland RSPCA officers have the authority to seize and destroy any dog of pit bull or pit bull cross breeding.
Mr Carr said: "It is clear that one way to minimise the risk of dog attacks is to ban these restricted breeds - the penalties will be severe and we will continue to place strict controls over those who already own these dogs."
The Minister for Local Government, Tony Kelly, will meet council officials tomorrow to examine how to give rangers greater powers to control dogs.
Mark has bred more than 80 pit bulls and and owns two, Rex and Scar. He said the trouble was not with the breed, but with a few irresponsible owners who trained them to be violent.
"My brother has had his for eight years and he takes it to the beach all the time and lets it off the leash and it plays with other dogs, no problem," he said. Pit balls could be protective and territorial, but they were also loving and loyal. "I've got an 11-year-old niece and I gave her a pit bull and they're best friends, they're together all the time. My mother's got one, my brother's got one and about 20 of my mates have got them, they're not bad dogs at all."
Dangerous Dog Bans Tough to Enforce
The biggest problem in proclaiming a ban on pit bull terriers is that it won't work, the Kennel Council of Australia has warned. The council's national president, Hugh Gent, said the ban had been introduced in England several years ago and had become such a muddle - with arguments raging over what constituted a pit bull terrier - that eventually officialdom gave up.
The Australian Kennel Council, Delta Society Australia and the Australian Companion Animal Council said yesterday they were opposed in principle to "breed-specific legislation".
The Companion Animal Council has been lobbying local governments in south-east Queensland to remove bans that had been imposed on pit bulls. Mr Gent said: "I don't know why the authorities here have not taken note of what happened overseas. There were court actions in England and while all this was going on some dogs were in the pound for up to two years. So finally they just let all the dogs out and left it at that."
Commonwealth legislation was in place banning imports of pit bulls but it had been circumvented by people bringing the dogs in as American Staffordshires. Andrew Windsor, a pit bull owner from Oatley, said when he took his dog to the vet as a pup it was called a Staffordshire terrier cross.
"They all look the same," he said. "A dog might only have 10 per cent bull terrier. Does that make it a banned breed?"
Mr Gent said the American Kennel Club referred to "bull terriers". But the rival United Kennel Club called the same breed of dog an American Staffordshire bull terrier. "The Commonwealth bans the importing of bull terriers," he said. "But you can circumvent the law by bringing them in as American Staffordshire bull terriers. It is just ridiculous."
Logan City Council on the Gold Coast announced its own ban on pit bull terriers in the last year and rangers had been given a "template" containing 22 points of anatomy by which a dog could be identified. But they were inexact. "If you used those 22 points you could identify my labrador as a bull terrier," Mr Gent said.
Pit bull owners say Government agencies appointed to implement the ban will have their work cut out because the breed is popular and there are a lot of the dogs. Mr Windsor said he and a fellow pit bull owner had recently sold off a litter of nine puppies for up to $1500 a pup.
Like the Companion Animal Council, the Kennel Council's policy is that it is "the deed, not the breed" that should be condemned. All breeds and cross-breeds could be dangerous. "You get a bull mastiff crossed with a Rhodesian ridgeback and you can get a dangerous dog," Mr Gent said.
John Cornwall, general manager of the Delta Society, a national organisation dedicated to educating the public on interaction with companion animals, said that apart from difficulties of policing a ban, other complications arose.
"Once you go down this track, where are you going to stop?" he asked. "Any dog if it is pushed hard enough will bite. Are we going to ban Blue Heelers?
The Sydney Morning Herald Thursday May 5
"We want to breed these dogs out of existence," the Premier, Bob Carr, said yesterday. "They are killing machines on a leash."
But pit bull owners and breeders have attacked the crackdown. Colin Muir, president of the American Pit Bull Club of Australia, said: "This was an opportunity for the Government to look at some realistic measures to reduce the number of dog attacks in the community, but unfortunately they have gone for the knee-jerk reaction." Mark, a Balmain pit bull owner who preferred not to give his full name, said he would refuse to allow his dogs to be desexed or put down.. "I'll send my dog away before I let them exterminate the breed."
Moves to eliminate the dogs follow two recent attacks by pit bulls on five-year-old Jordan Wisby at Illawong and a separate incident seriously maiming a 75-year-old man near Homebush.
Jordan's father, Steven, welcomed the move, but called for clearer rules to prevent dangerous dogs escaping from backyards. "I am relieved that they have seen sense - these dogs don't deserve to be in society," he said. The RSPCA described the move as wise. "It sends the message that if you are thinking of getting a pit bull, don't," said Bernie Murphy, the RSPCA's chief executive. "These are fighting dogs. They are totally inappropriate animals to have in a residential community."
The dogs are not allowed to be imported and are already banned in Queensland and South Australia. Queensland RSPCA officers have the authority to seize and destroy any dog of pit bull or pit bull cross breeding.
Mr Carr said: "It is clear that one way to minimise the risk of dog attacks is to ban these restricted breeds - the penalties will be severe and we will continue to place strict controls over those who already own these dogs."
The Minister for Local Government, Tony Kelly, will meet council officials tomorrow to examine how to give rangers greater powers to control dogs.
Mark has bred more than 80 pit bulls and and owns two, Rex and Scar. He said the trouble was not with the breed, but with a few irresponsible owners who trained them to be violent.
"My brother has had his for eight years and he takes it to the beach all the time and lets it off the leash and it plays with other dogs, no problem," he said. Pit balls could be protective and territorial, but they were also loving and loyal. "I've got an 11-year-old niece and I gave her a pit bull and they're best friends, they're together all the time. My mother's got one, my brother's got one and about 20 of my mates have got them, they're not bad dogs at all."
Dangerous Dog Bans Tough to Enforce
The biggest problem in proclaiming a ban on pit bull terriers is that it won't work, the Kennel Council of Australia has warned. The council's national president, Hugh Gent, said the ban had been introduced in England several years ago and had become such a muddle - with arguments raging over what constituted a pit bull terrier - that eventually officialdom gave up.
The Australian Kennel Council, Delta Society Australia and the Australian Companion Animal Council said yesterday they were opposed in principle to "breed-specific legislation".
The Companion Animal Council has been lobbying local governments in south-east Queensland to remove bans that had been imposed on pit bulls. Mr Gent said: "I don't know why the authorities here have not taken note of what happened overseas. There were court actions in England and while all this was going on some dogs were in the pound for up to two years. So finally they just let all the dogs out and left it at that."
Commonwealth legislation was in place banning imports of pit bulls but it had been circumvented by people bringing the dogs in as American Staffordshires. Andrew Windsor, a pit bull owner from Oatley, said when he took his dog to the vet as a pup it was called a Staffordshire terrier cross.
"They all look the same," he said. "A dog might only have 10 per cent bull terrier. Does that make it a banned breed?"
Mr Gent said the American Kennel Club referred to "bull terriers". But the rival United Kennel Club called the same breed of dog an American Staffordshire bull terrier. "The Commonwealth bans the importing of bull terriers," he said. "But you can circumvent the law by bringing them in as American Staffordshire bull terriers. It is just ridiculous."
Logan City Council on the Gold Coast announced its own ban on pit bull terriers in the last year and rangers had been given a "template" containing 22 points of anatomy by which a dog could be identified. But they were inexact. "If you used those 22 points you could identify my labrador as a bull terrier," Mr Gent said.
Pit bull owners say Government agencies appointed to implement the ban will have their work cut out because the breed is popular and there are a lot of the dogs. Mr Windsor said he and a fellow pit bull owner had recently sold off a litter of nine puppies for up to $1500 a pup.
Like the Companion Animal Council, the Kennel Council's policy is that it is "the deed, not the breed" that should be condemned. All breeds and cross-breeds could be dangerous. "You get a bull mastiff crossed with a Rhodesian ridgeback and you can get a dangerous dog," Mr Gent said.
John Cornwall, general manager of the Delta Society, a national organisation dedicated to educating the public on interaction with companion animals, said that apart from difficulties of policing a ban, other complications arose.
"Once you go down this track, where are you going to stop?" he asked. "Any dog if it is pushed hard enough will bite. Are we going to ban Blue Heelers?
The Sydney Morning Herald Thursday May 5