Bad To The Bone?

In a recent appearance in front of a packed audience in Ontario, world-renowned dog expert Casar Millan has spoken out against the banning of certain breeds labeled as ‘dangerous’ dogs.

‘In the ’70s, the breed that people were afraid of was the Doberman; in the 2000s, it’s the Pit Bull. See, nothing has changed,’ he said. ‘So the solution is education. If we start to ban breeds, what that tells me is people are afraid or people are ignorant about it. It’s not the breed, it’s the human behind the dog.’

Millan himself has many dogs, but probably the most famous of these was Daddy, an American Pit Bull. Daddy passed away at age 16 earlier this year, but not before Millan had adopted a new Pit Bull puppy, named Junior, who became Daddy’s protégé. Both Daddy and Junior are known for their calm, empathetic and non-aggressive temperaments, but when Millan attempted to bring Junior to his stage show in Ontario the Provincial laws prohibited it – and refused to make an exception even for this famous and well-trained dog.

Pit Bulls, Rottweilers and German Shepherds have all come under fire for being aggressive, but Millan and others advocate owner-education rather than simply issuing a blanket ban for these breeds.

It is true that some Pit Bulls have been bred to fight, and an aggressive animal certainly needs to be taken seriously, but fuelling the stigma behind certain breeds is not the answer, says Millan.

• What do you think? Are certain dogs just ‘bad breeds’? Is the answer to ban them or should we focus more on community education? We’d love to hear your thoughts!

Image Sourced from: dog walker