Tonight the American Kennel Club tweeted a statement from The White House, in which President Obama stated "that breed specific legislation is a bad idea". It is not surprising that the AKC are enthused about his words. To have the President's support on such a controversial topic is no mean feat. I can only hope that the UK might look to follow suit and spend some time examining the reality of breed specific legislation (BSL)
I can see both sides of the story when it comes to this issue, however I have to say that I would like to see the UK putting a stop to us focussing on the look of a dog. In my experience there are many other factors that come into play; such as the breeding of the dog, its upkeep, its parenting, how it was raised, exposure to stimulus, abuse, how it was taught and so on. I think we have got caught up in using certain breeds i.e. bull breeds as the current scape goat for our nations problems with dogs.
If you look over the years, each decade seems to have had a breed that has been demonised whether it be the German Shepherd or the Rottweiler and now its the bull breeds turn. Obviously different breeds have differing traits and any owner must be aware of how their dog can react to situations. That is part and parcel of responsible ownership!
The White House commented that "the types of people who look to exploit dogs aren't deterred by breed regulations" in fact I would say for many, it just makes these dogs more appealing. I would bet my mortgage on predicting what the next breed of choice to destroy will be, I'm not mentioning it though as that would enable these people.
For me, we need to be looking further than what a dog looks like, we need to be educating owners on choosing the right breed for their lifestyle. We need to be teaching children and adults about how dogs communicate using their body language. Most of all though we need to be sorting out the hideous practice of puppy farms, back yard breeding and irresponsible owners flogging their dogs on websites and social media forums. All of this would be a step in the right direction, in my opinion.