Merseyside dog amnesty

[bunn]

I have just looked at  this PDF leaflet issued by Merseyside police about their  illegal dog amnesty.   It makes me angry.

 In particular, the description of 'how to identify an illegal dog' combined with 'who will decide a dog is illegal' and the advice to report dogs belonging to one's friends family and neighbours makes me want to march up and down ranting loudly.   I would like some non-dog-owner people to tell me if they think I am overreacting.

Comments

[bunn.livejournal.com]

nobody would report a pure greyhound or a whippetx as a dangerous dog

Arg, I'm doing it now! I mean, as an 'illegal' dog. Greyhounds and whippets can be dangerous, as all dogs can, and I hope that if a sighthound was being kept in a way that made it a risk to the public it would be reported and dealt with appropriately.

[smirnoffmule.livejournal.com]

The semantics of this debate are so loaded, aren't they? If you don't support the amnesty, you must support people owning dangerous dogs. I can see exactly why you're angry, and I'm angry too (though as a staffie cross owner, I'm not exactly an objective party). The part about being invited to shop your neighbours is particularly worrying, because most members of the public are not in the least bit qualified to identify a dog's breed by sight, and they've been told to look out for a dog which simply happens to look a certain way, never mind how it behaves. That link describes my dog, it describes all manner of crosses and other dogs that aren't Pit Bulls at all, and even if your neighbour's dog doesn't resemble that description, don't worry, because Pit Bulls can vary in size, weight and characteristics, so it still might be one anyway!

I could just rant about the idiocy all day, and the really sad thing is that nobody who knowingly illegally owns a pit bull, or who is involved in dog fighting, or other criminal activities is going to hand their dog over - the dogs that are going to be handed over will be the pets of frightened families.