“No bully breeds allowed.” “Vicious dogs, such as pit bulls and Rottweilers, are not welcome in our neighborhood.” “Pit bulls and other aggressive dogs are not allowed.” If you’ve ever seen a dog-related restriction, it’s very likely you have heard about the “aggressive breeds,” like pit bulls and Rottweilers. If you rent and you have a pet policy, the likelihood pit bulls are allowed in your dwelling are slim to none. You’ve heard about breed regulations before, but have you ever stopped to question them?

Mayday, a purebred American Staffordshire Terrier, hugging his girl. Mayday works as a service dog and helps his girl every single day.

One of the most common misconceptions about pit bulls is that they are a real dog breed. This is not correct. The term “pit bull” actually can refer to a number of breeds and is not a breed recognized by either the American Kennel Club (AKC) or the United Kennel Club (UKC), the most prominent kennels for breed identification. “Pit bull” or “bully breed” can refer to many different breeds, including the American Bully and the American Pit Bull Terrier (both breeds only recognized by the UKC) and can be expanded to include as much as the American Staffordshire Terrier, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, the Bull Terrier and sometimes even the American Bulldog. The traditional “pit bull” is usually considered the American Staffordshire Terrier or the American Pit Bull Terrier; however, almost any breed with a boxy head shape and a muscular build (especially those with cropped ears) can be referred to as a pit bull. While this may seem like a harmless grouping of breeds, the issues with this grouping go on and on. The biggest concern regarding this unofficial “breed” is the amount of stereotypes that come with the title. Because “pit bull” has no real meaning, anyone can claim your dog is a pit bull and therefore is subject to restrictions. This means that your dog could be excluded from living in your home, traveling with you and sometimes even from living in your city or county.

This obvious Labrador Retriever could be considered a pit bull due to his boxy head and the lack of a true definition of "pit bull."

Why are these dogs so harshly discriminated against? You probably know the answer. The mere mention of the word “pit bull” can cause fear in some people as they are associated with dog fights and attacks. Uneducated fear mongers will tell you that these dogs are “bred to kill,” even though this couldn’t be further from the truth! The traditional Staffordshire breeds were created in the 18^th and 19^th centuries to be companion dogs with their families and were actually commonly referred to as “nanny dogs” due to their affection level around children. Delinquents saw this compassion in their breed nature, along with their happy desire to please their owner, and began to use them for dog fighting. Pit bulls were specifically chosen to fight other dogs because of their compassion toward their handler. They have the ability to attack another dog on command and then shut off completely when their owner comes to retrieve them. This is the most important quality in a dog because handlers often had to physically remove dogs from fighting pits, and it was important that the fighting dogs did not turn on their owners. The pit bull wanted so badly to please its owner that it would never turn on an owner and would do whatever it was asked, including fighting to the brink of death. Other breeds, such as retrievers and herding dogs, do not have this capacity. If a herding dog was trained to fight other dogs, it is extremely likely that it would not be able to differentiate between its owner and its opponent in a fighting pit. In this manner, pit bulls are actually one of the most compassionate dog breeds in the world. This is why a majority of the canine victims of Michael Vick were able to find new homes as companion pets.

This is one of Michael Vick's previous fighting dogs, Jonny Justice, working as a therapy dog to help children read.

Pit bulls currently are most commonly found as family pets. However, many also serve as therapy animals, visiting hospitals and prisons as a way to provide care and affection toward others. There is also a very large amount of pit bulls that work as service animals (including my own service dog, Chloë. This one’s for you, kid). The UKC actually put out a warning that the American Pit Bull Terrier is not a good guard dog, due to its tendency to be “extremely friendly, even with strangers.” Keeping this in mind, why is it nearly impossible to find a place to live if you own a pit bull?

Me and my American Staffordshire Terrier-Australian Cattle Dog mix, Chloë, while she's on duty as my working service dog.

The typical reasoning for housing breed restrictions is “liability,” considering that a housing complex or homeowners association can be sued for a dog attack within the community; however, all the previous research stated above proves against any idea that pit bulls would prove any danger toward the general public. But housing isn’t the only issue for sweet pups. Entire cities and counties (even the entirety of the District of Columbia) have created breed-specific legislation (BSL) preventing “aggressive” dogs from entering. 100 percent of all BSL mentions pit bulls and either fully or mostly prevents them from being on the premises. Seven percent of all BSL mentions Rottweilers, a dog bred to hunt large game and guard cattle, and only three percent of BSL prevents wolf-hybrid dogs. Wolf-hybrid dogs are a breeding of a domesticated dog and a wild wolf, completely erasing thousands of years of dog domestication. These dogs are literally 50 percent wild animals, yet they aren’t half as discriminated against as pit bulls, who have been domesticated and around children for hundreds of years.

A wolf-hybrid dog, or a "wolfdog."

This leads us to the biggest question: why do breed stereotypes exist? My personal opinion is that they are a result of the human tendency to place blame on others. Instead of blaming bad owners for not training and restraining their dog, we attack homeowners associations and rental companies. Instead of accepting the blame for abusing dogs by fighting them, we blame the dogs for being aggressive. This is a very similar concept to racism (though definitely not as extreme). Using African Americans as an example, people continuously stereotype and fear African Americans, simply because they saw a news story 10 years ago about an African American who robbed a store or committed murder. They ignore the high quantity of crimes committed by Caucasian people or people of various other races, and instead focus on and blame African Americans. This is similar to how we continuously ignore attacks by Border Collies and Labrador Retrievers and instead focus on those by pit bulls. You cannot judge an entire breed because of something one dog did that happened to look similar to another dog. It’s stereotyping, it’s bigotry and it needs to stop.

My roommate, Megan, and her Rottweiler/lap dog, Lucy.

You might be wondering, what about the dogs that are aggressive? What about the dogs that have been abused or untrained and actually do attack and harm others? How can we prevent them from hurting other people? There is no clear solution. I believe that if rental companies or lawmakers are concerned about dog attacks, they need to require meeting dogs. Current legislation and restrictions do not require meeting animals—they simply restrict them. This provides a loophole for vicious dogs that aren’t those given breeds and restricts perfectly friendly Rottweilers and pit bulls. Requiring an interaction between a rental company employee and the dog in question allows aggression to be put to the test. The rental company could clearly see that the dog in question is or is not aggressive and judge restriction by that standard. In larger scale situations, such as city and county-wide legislation, a meet and greet with every dog simply is not possible; however, there are many other ways to ensure a dog is not aggressive. The AKC Canine Good Citizen test requires dogs to complete a variety of tasks, including being in a public space, experiencing other dogs, being groomed and being walked by other owners. This test is a perfect way to ensure good dog behavior. Requiring a test similar to this is a simple way to ensure dogs are not aggressive without stereotyping.

If you agree that dog restrictions and BSL are ridiculous and need to be stopped, take action! Call your landlord. Reach out to your HOA. Write to your local legislators. Tell them that breed stereotypes are immoral, unethical and unacceptable. Help thousands of pit bulls find homes with their owners! It’s up to us to make this change.

Me, Chloë, and my roommate's dogs: Lucy the Rottweiler and Louie the Lab mix. Clearly a vicious pack of dogs.