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2009/20: Should pit bull terrier regulations be further tightened?





Introduction to the media issue

Video clip at right: trailer of a documentary on pit bulls from a USA company named Braverman Productions. The trailer should be regarded as comment, rather than a news item. Note: some very mild coarse language is used in this video. .
If you cannot see this clip, it will be because video is blocked by your network. To view the clip, access from home or from a public library, or from another network which allows viewing of video clips.

What they said...
'The American pit bull terrier is ... an absolute menace... There is no reason at all for the dog in the country. They are not suitable pets for anybody'
Dr Hugh Wirth, Victorian president of the RSPCA

'Breed bans do not address the recurrent patterns of irresponsible or uneducated dog ownership associated with dog attacks. Measures need to address human ownership practices'
Bonnie Norton, secretary of the American Pit Bull Terrier Club of Australia

The issue at a glance
On the evening of October 18, 2009, an unrestrained pit bull terrier, roaming the streets of a Melbourne suburb, killed a pet cat and another smaller dog before seizing the hand of the dog's owner.  The man was freed after twenty minutes when an ambulance officer called to the scene administered a fatal injection to the pit bull terrier.
The Victorian Premier, John Brumby, declared on the day of the attack that the Victorian Government was about to extend the powers of local councils, enabling them to immediately put down declared dangerous breeds of dog if they were found unregistered and without their owners.
Dr Graeme Smith, the chief executive of the Lost Dogs Home, welcomed the Government's proposal but went on to claim that restrictive legislation should apply not just to specific breeds but to crosses with those breeds.
Supporters of pit bull terriers continued to argue that laws should not be framed in response to individual dog attacks, exaggerated by a sensationalist media, and further that breed-specific legislation is both inappropriate and ineffective.