List of Banned Breeds: Will Your Dog Be Next?

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A group called Families Against Breed Bans that works to block Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) in the Seattle area and elsewhere. There has been talk of creating a breed ban in Seattle for pit bulls or “fighting breeds” and I know that this is *not* the answer.

[click here for another Breed Ban article, written Sept 10, 2008, with suggestions for what to do to reduce dog bites in Seattle].

First off, it doesn’t solve anything and second of all, it’s going to kill a lot of dogs in the process. Banning a breed doesn’t make does just disappear. Someone has to kill them.

I designed a shirt for FABB with the slogan, “Will Your Breed Be Next?” I didn’t really realize, at the time, just how accurate that was, given that there are so many banned/restricted dog breeds.

There’s a fascinating list of 75 Banned or Restricted Breeds in the US & Canada that I thought I’d share the highlights of. Here goes:

1. Airedale Terrier
2. Akbash
3. Akita
4. Alaskan Malamute (often what’s really used for Husky Mascots)
5. American Bulldog
6. American Husky (yup, Huskies, too)
7. American Pit Bull Terrier
8. American Staffordshire Terrier
9. Australian Cattle Dog
10. Australian Shepherd (yes, even Aussies)
11. Belgian Malinois
12. Belgian Sheepdog
13. Belgian Turvuren
14. Boerboel
15. Borzoi
16. Boston Terrier (can you believe it?)
17. Bouviet Des Flandres
18. Boxer
19. Bulldog
20. Bull Terrier
21. Bull Mastiff
22. Chinese Shar Pei
23. Chow-Chow
24. Doberman Pinscher
25. English Mastiff
26. English Springer Spaniel
27. Eskimo Dog (I think that’s American Eskimo Dog)
28. Fox Terrier
29. French Bulldog (you know they’re like 18 pounds, right?)
30. German Shepherd Dog
31. Golden Retriever (wow, them too?)
32. Great Dane
33. Great Pyrenees
34. Keeshond
35. Komondor
36. Labrador Retriever
37. Leonberger
38. Neopolitan Mastiff
39. Newfoundland
40. Pug
41. Rottweiler
42. Saint Bernard
43. Samoyed
44. Staffordshire Bull Terrier

You can join a vigil against Breed Bans on Sunday, August 24th, 2008. The address is 3000 Rockefeller Ave in Everett, at the NE corner of the courthouse campus, kitty-corner from the Events Center. I don’t think you bring dogs, but I’m not certain. Info on the vigils in general (but not this, one, as far as I can tell) is at http://www.lightacandlesavealife.com/.

Photo Credit: Alyssa Rose Photography

Written by Grisha Stewart, Ahimsa Dog Training, Seattle

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 1st, 2008 at 9:15 am and is filed under What's New? . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

6 Responses to “List of Banned Breeds: Will Your Dog Be Next?”

1. Charlotte H. Says:
   July 1st, 2008 at 9:17 pm

   Thanks Grisha,

   I too am against BSL and very sensitive to the injustice and prejudice against certain breeds.
   Today I was told that my neighbor’s Westie bit (actually drew blod) a neighbor when she went to check her mailbox. It wasn’t reported, and I’m fuming. This dog has attacked my Pug twice (my dog on lead the Westie loose) and he always gets out of their yard (both neutered). Now is this the dogs fault? No! However, IF it had been my FiFi (Doberman) who had done the same, she’d minimally be in quarantine for 10 days. But because it’s a small dog it passes under the radar, argh! Bigger dog bites get reported so the statistics are totally out of wack. I have a friend who’s miniature Yorkie had bitten the same person twice…. not reported! I understand that bigger dogs produce more damage, but that’s necessarily not the point here, if we’re just talking about biting and statistics, which many of these BSLaws are based on. ANY dog is capable of biting!
   Now on to the list you posted….. Pug…. are you kidding me! They hardly have a mouth big enough to reach around anything…. I rest my case, this is insane, and soon we won’t be able to “own” any dogs at all!!!!
   Thanks for bringing this up! Sorry for the rant….

2. Grisha Says:
   July 3rd, 2008 at 11:57 am

   I think you’re so right, that there’s size discrimination in the dog bite statistics. It’s embarrassing to report to the Seattle police that a Westie bit you, but it’s exciting to be part of the witch hunt and report a bite from one of the so-called dangerous breeds.

3. Melissa Says:
   July 7th, 2008 at 11:40 am

   The web address is actually http://www.fabbseattle.com

   Come check it out!!

4. J Says:
   July 22nd, 2008 at 11:32 am

   I have a english mastiff and she is 5 months and already 70 pounds. She will be around 160 pounds full grown. She is very sweet. She is good to my 3 year old son. I would never leave any dog alone with my son though but i cant see her biting anyone. She barks when someone approaches but when she see it is fine she will lick the person. Are they trying to banned dogs like mine in California?? This is just insane. As long people arent training there dog to be an attack dog i think banning any dog is WRONG. Its some of the scum ball owners that give dogs bad reputation because of the way they raise the dog. Can someone please let me know about banning of dogs in California.

5. Grisha Says:
   July 22nd, 2008 at 11:34 am

   Hi J,

   Most of the breed bans seem to be local - like one county, or one city. Denver Colorado, for example has a breed ban, though I think they may remove it. So you might check around with local trainers near you to see if there’s any breed specific legislation in the works. There is some in the Seattle area, but it’s just barely getting started, and we’re trying to nip it in the bud.

6. Grisha Says:
   August 23rd, 2008 at 9:29 am

   I wanted to add a link to a great little clip about dog fighting. It’s an anti-dog-fighting promo that targets the real problem: humans.

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