BSL Continues To Crumble

The trend across the U.S. is clear: Breed-specific legislation (BSL) and dog bans have become increasingly unpopular, as the majority of citizens support equitable and more effective breed-neutral policies over discriminatory and ineffective appearance-based policies for public safety. In 2020, Denver, CO, residents overturned a 31-year-old ban on pitbull-type dogs with a decisive 66% majority vote, and in 2018, Springfield, MO, residents repealed the city's ban against pitbulls with an even wider 68% majority after the City Council narrowly voted to enact the misconceived ban less than a year earlier. Furthermore, the scientific consensus supports the trend of repealing breed-specific policies, with numerous studies concluding that BSL is ineffective and that a dog's breed does not determine aggression, bite strength, or its propensity to bite. Not only is BSL ineffective, but it's also obsolete, given that at least 82 breeds have been implicated in fatal attacks in the U.S. since 2016. Unsurprisingly, BSL is often challenged where it's still enacted and frequently being repealed. Congratulations to the many cities, towns, and their voters that have recently repealed BSL and, by doing so, have taken a decisive stand against ineffective and wasteful policies, junk science, and long-debunked misconceptions and stereotypes about pitbull-type dogs — which is not only a win for great dogs, but also a win for responsible and rational humans.