BSL Pointe Coupee Parish, LA

[ChilliPepper]

Please help, my sister lives here and owns a boxer. For her to fence her land will cost her $5000, which she obviously does not have. Muzzling her dog will only make him spooked about walks. Chipping him is not a bad idea, but the rest is a panic response from the town. How can I help her gather information to fight this?
http://www.wafb.com/global/story.asp?s=12466704

 

[JennyBug]

http://dogobedienceadvice.com/which_dog_breeds_are_most_aggressive.php

1 Dachshund (around one in twelve have turned on and bitten or tried to bite their owners)
2 Chihuahua
3 Jack Russell terrier
4 Akita
5 Australian cattle dog
6 Pit bull
7 Beagle
8 English springer spaniel
9 Border collie
10 German shepherd.

Breed specific legislation is getting ridiculous. It's HOW you raise a dog and their parentage that can cause aggression, not whether or not a dog is a specific breed. To me, that's like saying that just because someone is a certain race, they deserve to have different laws because they might be more likely to do something. It makes me sick that because boxers, pits, and rottweilers look scary, they're branded as dangerous and aggressive. Look at the top three dogs, for crying out loud - they're no bigger than some cats!

Some cities say that if your dog passes obedience/personality tests and receives a certificate, you can be exempt from certain rules. Tell your sister to check into this. I don't see how the chipping will help if a dog is attacking you, but if it would get the city to be quiet and leave her alone, I would do that as well. However, the city she's in made a mistake in the wording of their laws - if they are wanting to control AGGRESSIVE breeds, they better be monitoring the chihuahuas, dachshunds, and jacks russell terriers as much as the pits and boxers!

The story I read doesn't specifically names boxers as an aggressive breed. Are you concerned about her dog be labeled as a pit? If so, she should look into getting a DNA test done to verify that her dog is a boxer, not a pit, or at the very least, get a record from her veterinarian. My husband and I have a record from the shelter where we got Chase, who is obviously a pitbull/American bulldog, that says he is a lab/boxer/shepherd mix just in case we run into a case like this. She should get whatever documentation she can from whatever breeder/shelter she got her dog from. Unless they specifically name a boxer, as far as I'm concerned, the law doesn't apply to her.

 

[Spoof]

Interesting! They still actively fight dogs here, so I'm surprised they're passing legislation regarding that.

In my opinion, chipping is the thing to do for any pet you have, particularly fighting breed dogs around here, they get stolen frequently and are often picked up during raids.

Muzzling her dog will only make him spooked about walks.

Absolutely not true, if she has done any obedience class and properly walks her dog - not being walked by the dog, a muzzle makes no difference. Especially if it is properly introduced. Both petsmart and petco offer open breed obedience classes at very good rates. Her best avenue of fighting this is to prove above and beyond that her dog is a model canine citizen. )

 

[ChilliPepper]

Spoof, Max is a nutjob, lol. He spooks about the weirdest things. If the floor mat is in the wrong position, it bothers him. My sis got hold of the actual proposed bill and boxers are specifically named. It is in response to an attack by boxers that killed a young child. It is truly a panic response to a tragic event.
Jenny, thanks for the link, I will forward it to her.

 

[Riven]

Firstly, the out of the dogs that are names, one is Dobermans. It is not that Dobe's are any more aggressive than other breeds, it's that they are used for things that they are taught to be aggressive for.

For example, if you want a guard or protection dog, you don't want it to like everyone. How often do you see people getting a lab to protect their property or a yorkie? Not often.

It's like saying th

 

[JennyBug]

It's amazing that we insist on punishing animals and good people for the stupidity of some bad owners. This is just sad. I feel very bad for both your sister and her dog.

 

[chin_gal]

BSL is a topic that gets me soo riled up. I HATE it. I volunteer at the Baltimore City animal shelter and pretty much all I walk are pit bulls. They are amazing dogs; some of the friendliest and most intelligent infact that I have met! The same goes for other breeds targeted by BSL. It's not the dog, however, it seems to be easier just to blame them.

I have never heard of boxers being targeted by BSL. Does the law include boxers, or is he a boxer mix that resembles a pit bull type dog? I agree, I would get a certificate from your vet and get him into some obediance classes. Maybe have him go through the Canine Good Citizenship program? That usually helps a lot!

Good luck! *hugs* BSL is an awful thing.

 

[RDZCRanch]

BSL is obviously crap and makes no sense. Sometimes it is mostly in place to try to stop dog fighting...but since dog fighting already isn't legal making it MORE illegal is going to make them go MORE underground and be harder to find and stop. Doesn't make sense to me...

I rescued, fostered and rehabilitated a chihuahua/dachshund mix that was attacked by a coyote. The family had left him outside with no shelter or defense because he had bitten the 15yr old daughter(was supposed to be her dog) when she went to pick him up one time. Anyhow...he bit the crud out of me in the beginning and then stopped doing it. Later on we found that he hated tall men and was absolutely terrified of them. He kept ripping into Ty's hands whenever he'd go to pick him up or even pet him. I've also been bit by multiple doxies or chi mixes working at a vet office. Shih-Tzus were the meanest.

 

[addictedtochins]

My sister lives here and owns a boxer. For her to fence her land will cost her $5000, which she obviously does not have.

I'm not sure why a tall fence would cost that much. Here in rural Idaho some people put up tall fences to keep deer out of their gardens. They sell extra tall T-posts cheaply and you just install like 3ft of livestock fencing around the perimeter then another 3ft roll on top of that one. Very easy, you can do it yourselves
-dog3-

 

[ChilliPepper]

Could you explain that better? I tried to google livestock fencing and came up with wood fencing that would still enable the dog to climb under or through the slats- Never underestimate a dog determined to leave his area, lol.

 

[Megan]

How is her property? We just fenced in 200sq feet and it ran us about $600, but thats using heavy duty horse fencing and thick fence posts that ran $21 a post... (Darn goats!)

This is why BSL needs to be stopped.. It just doesn't effect one or two breeds anymore. It's gonna start taking on a whole lot more then just the big bad "pit bulls" "rotties" and "dobes". Wake up everyone! Your dog will soon be next.. I've seen Labs labled under BSL already. Just because it may not be a breed you are fond of, or a breed your family may own..it won't stop at just one breed. Once these law makers win with one breed, another will soon follow.

 

[Stackie]

These laws have gotten ridiculous. In all my years of volunteering and now working at a veterinarian's office, I have been bitten by 5 small dogs (chihuahua, 2 daschunds, a yorkie and another terrier thing) and not ONCE have I ever been bitten by the big bad "aggressive" breeds.

I agree, some obedience training may help her out...hopefully.

 

[chin_gal]

"The Animal Control Committee of the Pointe Coupee Police Jury has proposed an ordinance that would target the following breeds (and mixes thereof):

"Pit Bulls",
Rottweilers,
Chow Chows,
German Shepherds,
Doberman Pinchers,
Boxers, and
Akitas"

Crap, it DOES include boxers