The newly appointed president of the British Veterinary Association, Bill Reilly has used a speech made in Northern Ireland to condemn the continuation of breed specific legislation.Speaking at the BVA dinner at the Parliament buildings in Stomont, Mr Reilly said:

Dogs are also hitting the headlines through the recent announcement of new control measures.

I was shocked to read that one third of all dogs destroyed in the UK are in Northern Ireland – clearly the dual problems  of dangerous and stray dogs are an enormous drain on your resources.

We welcome your commitment to  promoting responsible pet ownership, but we are disappointed with the proposal to retain breed-specific legislation.   The manner in which a dog behaves is both a result of its inherited characteristics and, more importantly, the rearing   and training provided by its owner.

We know that aggression is a normal behaviour and can be shown by any dog of any breed, type or mixed breeding. Breed-specific legislation therefore engenders a false and dangerous perception that breeds not banned will not show aggression. I would urge the Minister to rethink her position on this issue and shift the focus of control to ‘deed not breed’, alongside a concerted campaign to promote responsible pet ownership.

Anti BSL campaigners will be heartened to hear the new vet chief’s commitment to promoting responsible ownership over the failed breed ban system, which has cost the tax payer millions and has not lead to a reduction in dog attacks.

K9 Media, in association with Butcher’s Pet Care, is to launch the Better British Dog Owners campaign in November.

The scheme aims to provide free resources, training materials and access to canine mastermind groups for dog owners who are keen to develop their skills and, more importantly, for dog owners who would like to have access to free resources to pass on to other owners who may be struggling.

Ryan O’Meara, editor of K9 Magazine and a former professional dog trainer said:

“Breed specific legislation has had its chance to prove itself. It has failed, spectacularly. As a tax payer I resent the millions of pounds of public money that has gone in to this failed concept and has done absolutely nothing to reduce the problem of irresponsible dog ownership. In fact, it’s added to the problem by making some breeds appear to be more dangerous and therefore attracting the interest and attention from a small section of owners who simply aren’t fit to own any type of dog, regardless of breed. These people are not affected by breed bans, but there are too many responsible owners who are.

As an animal lover, the fact that my country still deploys state sponsored, publicly paid for killings of innocent dogs, I am ashamed and disgusted. If BSL is going to stay on our statute books, we can forget the idea of even thinking about calling ourselves a nation of animal lovers. We in Britain tend to take to our soap boxes to talk about animal welfare abuses in other countries such as bull fighting or forcing bears to dance for money, yet we do this whilst our own government is routinely executing dogs because of no other reason that what they happen to look like. BSL needs to go and it needs to go immediately. No excuses.”

—-
You can pre register for information on The Better British Dog Owners Campaign at www.DogsBlog.com/Butchers

Highly Recommended: What dog owner wouldn’t want a piece of THIS action? – Get FREE dog food!

Related posts:

1. Northern Ireland Shamed by Treatment of Death Row Dog, Bruce
2. DDA Confusion In Northern Ireland As Bruce Awaits His Fate On Deathrow
3. RSPCA Speaks Out Over BSL & Dangerous Dogs Act
4. Support Grows for RSPCA’s Call for BSL Repeal
5. Dangerous Dogs Act Breakthrough: RSPCA Back Calls For Immediate End to BSL