Wednesday, April 25, 2012

BSL: Shame Of The Human Race

Coco, our pit bull mix whose love & loyalty will never be forgotten

                                                             
    It never ceases to amaze me how cruel and ignorant human beings can be.  There is much debate over Breed Specific Laws and the truth is, BSL should not exist.  For the entire existence of humans we have found ways to discriminate, using that discrimination as a reason for killing. From belief in religion to the color of a person's skin, it all has led to ridiculous amounts of suffering and loss.  Now the human race has decided to target animals, not just one type of animal but an entire "race" of animals, with the intent to wipe them off the face of the Earth.  What happened?  Did y'all get bored with killing other humans for stupid reasons?  I may be a human but I cannot say I am proud to be.  The disgusting need to destroy anything and everything is a serious human flaw.  We, as a race, are destroying our planet, destroying each other, and destroying other living beings who cannot defend themselves.  We as humans have less "humanity" than those animals we are killing.  What or who will be the next target once all bully breeds are wiped out?  Will it be your darling Labrador or Poodle?  Will it be your cat because his fur is black?  Oh, wait, your cat's ancestors were already the target of the Pilgrims, anyone caught owning one was thought to be evil and would be punished or killed.  What about our children?  Will they someday be a target of hate due to their eye/hair color or weight?   When does the vicious cycle end?

    I'm sure this will be met with much scrutiny, but, two of my own children have been bitten by other people's dogs (my youngest daughter and youngest son) and my oldest daughter was scratched on the face, leaving a scar, by a dog in a pet store.  Not a single one of those incidents involved a bully breed.  The pet store dog was a Dalmatian, the dog who bit my youngest daughter was a Jack Russel mix and the dog who bit my youngest son was a Wire Haired Terrier mix.  Myself and my children have had many wonderful relationships with bully breeds, including our own treasured pit bull mix of four years, and never once has there been a problem.  The only dog I have had living in my home that I had a problem with was not a bully breed but an Akita/Coonhound mix.  If any animal of any breed is mistreated, neglected or mishandled it will have issues.  We as humans are responsible for the behavior of our animals.  If you abuse or neglect your dog or do not train and socialize the animal you greatly increase your chance that the dog will develop behavioral problems.  It is the same scenario with humans, if a child is abused, neglected or not taught how to be a good person the chances that the child will become an adult criminal increase as opposed to a child who had a healthy upbringing.  The simple fact is ANY living being has the potential to become a killer, human or animal.

    To see the terror and confusion in an animal's eyes when they are about to be euthanized is something that scars the soul of anyone who truly has one.  How people can impose such atrocities on any other living thing, especially without valid reason is appalling.  How many innocent animals must suffer and die because a few had an improper upbringing?  To do this is the equivalent of saying every high school student should be punished for the tragedy of Columbine since it was a high school student who did that.

    I believe it is the lack of knowledge, the quickness to overreact and the lack of common sense which runs rampant in a large number of humans that has allowed this to happen, just as it has done countless times before in our history.  I would love to believe that someday humans will evolve and learn from the wrongs of the past but the truth is, in all the time Humans have inhabited this planet, we have not come very far.  All you need to do is watch the news once and it becomes blatantly clear........we are still the most dangerous, deadly and arrogant of all living things on this planet.

    This is my own opinion but I felt a great need for it to be heard.

7 comments:

  1. Well said and I totally agree with ALL that you expressed. Thank you very much!

    ReplyDelete
  2. You're absolutely right! More people need to ponder their own behaviors before they decide to eliminate animals as a ''protection from ourselves.'' I've had pitbulls for over 20 years ( no problems) & the only dog to bite me in the last 60 years was a chihuahua.) BSL is ignorant.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Well stated. DSL are the "zero Tolerance" mentality applied to dogs. It represents the easy way out. No one has to make an individual decision ie; THINK.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Beautifully written! As to the logic of those who impose BSL, your last paragraph proves that HUMANS should be the next ones to be destroyed! I don't know if humans will ever understand and act on all that you have said here but please don't stop trying! I, for one, am beside you all the way! God bless you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Lisa. Every time just one person changes their way of thinking from ignorance to enlightenment it makes the world just the tiniest bit better. Although I did not in any way mean that the human race need be destroyed, I do think that the more who work toward change the less power the ignorant ones will have to carry out their deeds. My greatest hope is that someday blogs like this will not need to be written for animals or humans.

      Delete