Where are pitbulls still legal ?

Question

Apart from the US are pitbulls actually legal anywhere else?

I am also looking to find out if anyone in the UK has a story about a so called dangerous dog breed that has saved their life/has a positive story to tell etc?

Answer 1

Breed Specific Legislation or BSL

In response to a number of well-publicized incidents involving dogs that resemble pit bulls, some jurisdictions began placing restrictions on the ownership of pit bulls, such as the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 in the UK, an example of breed-specific legislation. Many jurisdictions have outlawed the possession of Pit bulls, either pit bull breeds specifically, or in addition to other breeds that are regarded as dangerous.

Pit Bull Terriers are regulated in the United Kingdom under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, administered by the government agency DEFRA. It is illegal to own any of these dogs without a specific exemption from a court. Licensing is done by local governments, dogs must be muzzled and kept on a lead in public, they must be registered and insured, and receive microchip implants. In November 2002, The Princess Royal was fined £500 under the provisions of the Act.

The Canadian province of Ontario, on August 29, 2005 enacted a ban on Pit Bulls. It was the first province or state in North America to do so. The breeds listed in the ban can no longer be sold, bred, or imported and all pit bull owners must leash and muzzle their pit bulls in public. A 60 day grace period has been put in place to allow for owners to have their pit bulls spayed or neutered. Also it left a period to allow municipalities to adjust to the new law. Prior to the bills passage, the Ontario government cited what it deemed the success of a pit bull bylaw passed by Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Pit bulls were not the #1 biting breed in Winnipeg's dog bite statistics, prior to the ban being implemented in 1990. After the ban, overall bite numbers increased by an average of almost 50 per year for the following decade. Bites by other breeds increased dramatically, including the #1 breed reported for biting, German Shepherds and their crosses, at close to 100 annual bites by 1992.

In the United States, Denver, Colorado was one of the pioneers of banning pit bulls. The city had legislation on the books since 1989, but was nullified by a 2004 law passed by the Colorado General Assembly prohibiting breed specific laws. However, it was overturned in April of 2005 after the city challenged in court the constitutionality of the law. The city reinstated the ban which prohibits citizens from keeping "pit bull type" dogs after May 9, 2005. Over 260 "pit bull type" dogs have been seized from their homes and euthanised since this date, resulting in widespread protest from dog owners and animal rights lobby groups. Since this legislation has passed over 1000 family pets have been taken from homes and destroyed.

No such ban on other dogs deemed dangerous has been enacted and no reporting of a decrease in dog bites has occurred.

Breed specific legislation that restricted pit bull ownership in Toledo, Ohio was struck down on March 3, 2006, by a 2-1 vote of the Ohio Sixth District Court of Appeals. The law had relied on a state definition of a vicious dog as one that has bitten or killed a human, has killed another dog, or "belongs to a breed that is commonly known as a pit bull dog." The lack of legal recourse of a pit bull owner to appeal the vicious dog designation of a particular animal was one of the deficiencies of the legislation. For the majority, Judge William Skow wrote in Toledo v. Tellings: "Since we conclude that there is no evidence that pit bulls are inherently dangerous or vicious, then the city ordinance limitation on ownership is also arbitrary, unreasonable, and discriminatory." In other words, the court found the law to be unconstitutional and the case is currently in the Ohio Supreme Court as the city apparently wants to "keep" their unconstitutional law.

I hope this helped you out and I listed a website below that should give you some more information just in case you're interested.

Answer 2

There is a massive problem in the UK with Pit bulls, here they are stereotyped as vicious dangerous dogs which they can be if the owner is vicious and horrible.
Over the last few weeks many stories have been exposed. A 5 year old girl was mauled to death by a Pit at her aunts house.
Thats why the British public have such a bad view of them.

Its sad that here in the UK nearly all the breeders of these dogs are illegal and so the dogs are taken away and put down if caught. But these dogs were going to be for fighting, guarding and to attack which isnt a nice life.
Pit Bull breeders have to have the correct license and documentation to breed these dogs safely and legally.
The UK only want these dogs for there image and protection and dont care that they can be loyal, caring dogs if brought up correctly.
I hear many people from the US saying how these dogs are lovely family pets and are not dangerous unless raised by the wrong sort of owner, and its probably correct. If only the rest of the British public could see these dogs are they really are, sociable, loving dogs.

Answer 3

In the UK pitbulls don't have the same rights as other breeds... One may not import nor breed pits; if you happen to have a pit that you acquired legally (prior to the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991) you are obliged to keep it muzzled in public. Pit lovers get round these restrictions by labelling their dogs as other breeds: Staff-cross, for example. Public debate as to the status of such dogs continues in the UK, fuelled by such cases as the 5-year old girl recently maulled to death by her uncle's pet pit as she slept in her bed.

Answer 4

Actually there are some states in the US where pit bulls are not allowed. We live in Mass. My sister had a pit bull and she was the biggest baby you ever saw. She became a dog everyone in our family loved. She always came to our cookouts. When my sister walked her, people would cross the street for fear of her breed. Pit bulls are not all alike. It's all in how they are handled. I'm sorry, got off the subject. to my understanding, I think we are the only country that won't allow a pit bull in some states, but I'm also probably wrong.

Answer 5

They are still legal here in Virginia for now. They are talking about making them illegal to have here in virginia. There are people here in our road, who have a couple, (I live in the country where there are lots of cow farms) but anyways, these dogs actually injured some cattle bad enough that the farmer had to put the cow's down. The only reason they got out of having there dogs put down was that they had to pay the farmer for the cattle. Unfortunately they were show cattle, which meant that the farmer did'nt get back out of it what he had put into his cows that were injured.
I beleave the problem with pit bulls, is its not the dog, but the owner. I have to admit, I worry about my dog out in our yard all the time, we have a huskey, and I dont know that she would properly be able to defend herself if one of those pit bulls came into our yard agressivly. They are bigger than she is. She stays outside all day long...no she's not chained up, but we have invisible fencing.

Answer 6

no they are not legal in the uk but i really wish they was i love pit bulls and would do anything to have one the only reason they got banned in the first place was because people believed they were a vicious breed of dog mainly because of the news and news-paper reports in my opinion they are not at all vicious and they don't deserve the reputation they have been given

Answer 7

Call your local city hall (I am not sure what it is called in the UK) Where the Mayor is, they will have the ordinances (laws) concerning dogs in your area.