BSL - Victim Turned Advocate

Breed-specific legislation has been abuzz all over my Facebook.  I never pay attention.  Why should I?  I own a Golden Retriever.  Only those crazies that want to save Pit Bulls care about those laws.  I am unaffected and uninvolved.  Well, I was...until now.

My husband made a career move that also moved our family to another state very quickly.  With no time to look for a rental we used an agent and rented a house sight unseen.  We were moving from a condo and we were ecstatic to finally have a fenced yard for our 2 yr. old son and our golden retriever Fenway to play in safely.  

To make a long story short.  That safe backyard is now a space we don't dare step into due to fear.  Our neighbor has two Pit Bull dogs that are very aggressive.  They are so intent on getting at our dog that they have headbutted and chewed the fence till they could break through.  They broke through the wooden fence and attacked our Fenway.  We had to call animal control to resolve the situation.  Nothing happened.  He got a fine, our fence is still broke, we live in fear of getting mauled.  Neither the neighbor or our leasing company will fix the fence and we are in the process of trying to get out of this lease.  

This horrible situation we have going on could make me join the ban wagon of banning certain breeds that are deemed unsafe or vicious such as Pit Bulls.  But I look out my back window at those dogs in their backyard huddled on eachother to keep warm, the yard just worn paths of dirt and I feel sorrow.  Those poor animals deserved better than to be trained to be hated.  They deserved a family that let them in their home and hearts.  They deserved a better owner.  I blame the owner.  Not the dogs.  Not the breed.  Any dog treated this way could act like that.  

I agree, Punish the Deed...Not the Breed.  Stop wasting time banning breeds but not looking at laws to help or protect people or other animals from attacks.  Lets work on legislature to stop bad owners from creating these animals.  Focus the energy where it needs to go!  BSL does nothing to help us in our situation.  In my opinion BSL is missing the mark!