Love Does Not Discriminate

Welcome

Share The Love & Stop The Hate! 

It's time to put an end to the shameful practice of breed discrimination.  Should we condemn innocent dogs for the shape of their heads? Should we seize them, ban them, and kill them based on a stereotypes, fear, rhetoric and myth?

It's time to end the fear, ignorance, and downright hatred of innocent dogs.

You can help save innocent dogs by sharing the message that "Love Does Not Discriminate" from The Campaign For Responsible Ownership, sponsored by My Dog Votes . 

My Dog Votes is a company that merges fashion, shopping and advocacy in the new Love Does Not Discriminate line of clothing and accessories, and is launching a new global public awareness campaign by the same name to stop the spread of breed discrimination and help save innocent dogs.

Together, we can end breed discrimination by bringing greater awareness to the issue, focus attention on responsible ownership, and in the end, save the lives of innocent dogs.

By shopping here, or sending one of our FREE eCards, you will be helping to Share The Love, Stop The Hate!  Tell the world that "Love Does Not Discriminate"!

What's BSL?

BSL stands for breed-specific legislation.  Breed-specific legislation is like racial profiling, but for dogs, and punishes them for being the wrong breed (or mix) rather than for deeds.  Breed-specific legislation can include:

• Breed bans (you are no longer allowed to own a dog of a certain breed)
• Breed-specific insurance requirements (you can only own a dog of a certain breed if you are able to obtain expensive insurance, sometimes not even available)
• Breed-specific mandatory spay-neuter policies (you are required to spay or neuter your dog specifically because it is a target breed - this will eliminate entire breeds)
• Breed-specific mandatory microchipping (you are required to chip your dog and your data will be tracked in a database like a sex offender)

Breed-specific legislation makes it harder to own, keep, or adopt dogs of a specific breed, mixed breed dogs, or dogs that even just "resemble" targeted breeds.

Each of these types of breed-specific laws or policies fails to keep children and communities safe.  Bottom line - BSL hurts good dogs and good owners.

Why Is BSL Wrong?

It's important to protect children and the community from dangerous dogs.  But breed-specific legislation is wrong - for many reasons:

1. BSL provides a false sense of security
2. Banning breeds does not prevent dog bites
3. Breed bans do not address irresponsible ownership
4. Breed discrimination punishes good dogs for heing the "wrong breed"
5. Breed discrimination may force good owners to surrender or even euthanize their beloved pets
6. Breed bans increase surrenders at shelters
7. Breed bans increase euthanasia rates of healthy, adoptable dogs

How Can I Help Stop BSL?

You can take action right now in your local community to help save innocent dogs.  After all, it's responsible owners like you that make the difference!

Here are some tips to help you fight breed-specific legislation where you live:

• Contact local rescues and kennel clubs for support
• Get the facts about dog bites from the AVMA or the CDC
• Write letters to the editor of your local paper
• Arrange a meeting with your local legislators
• Be a visible goodwill ambassador in your community
• Vote for dog-friendly candidates!

Help stop BSL and help save innocent dogs!

Which Groups Support BSL?

The fact is that not a single, credible animal welfare, veterinary medical or human health organization supports breed bans or other breed-specific measures as a means of dog bite prevention.

Not a single, credible source supports BSL - not the CDC, not the AVMA, not the AKC or the ASPCA.

Groups That Support Breed Specific Legislation

Three notable exceptions to those that oppose breed specific laws and measures are all from groups that market themselves as 'animal protection" organizations. We wish we could say otherwise:

• The Humane Society Of The United States - a letter which surfaced showing they in fact supported breed-specific mandatory spay neuter in Louisville, KY. It should be noted that HSUS supported BSL to facilitate an anti-breeding agenda, not as a means of dog bite prevention. HSUS LETTER Download Louisvillemulti-topicfinalletter.doc
• PETA has not been shy about supporting breed specific legislation - Read about PETA Founder Ingrid Newkirk's article in the San Francisco Chronicle: Pitbulls Are A Deadly Weapon
• Best Friends Animal Sanctuary is supporting measures that would import the world's worst breed specific measures from Germany to the U.S.: READ BEST FRIENDS BREED SPECIFIC PLAN HERE: Download BestFriends.pdf

Which Groups Oppose BSL?

Virtually all credible animal welfare, veterinary medical and human health organizations are opposed to breed-specific laws and measures:

OPPOSED - The Centers For Disease Control opposes breed-specific measures:

"A CDC study on fatal dog bites lists the breeds involved in fatal attacks over 20 years (Breeds of dogs involved in fatal human attacks in the United States between 1979 and 1998). It does not identify specific breeds that are most likely to bite or kill, and thus is not appropriate for policy-making decisions related to the topic. Each year, 4.7 million Americans are bitten by dogs. These bites result in approximately 12 fatalities; about 0.0002 percent of the total number of people bitten. These relatively few fatalities offer the only available information about breeds involved in dog bites. There is currently no accurate way to identify the number of dogs of a particular breed, and consequently no measure to determine which breeds are more likely to bite or kill.

Many practical alternatives to breed-specific policies exist and hold promise for preventing dog bites. For prevention ideas and model policies for control of dangerous dogs, please see the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Task Force on Canine Aggression and Human-Canine Interactions: A community approach to dog bite prevention." 

CONNECT TO THE CDC SITE HERE: http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/duip/biteprevention.htm

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OPPOSED - The American Veterinary Medical Association  opposes breed-specific measures.  In their report on a "Community Approach To Dog Bite Prevention, the AVMA Task Force on Canine Aggression and Human Canine Interaction, states that,

"Concerns about "dangerous dogs" have casued many local governments to consider supplementing exisiting animal control laws with ordinances directed toward the control of dpecific breeds or type of dogs. Members of the Task Force belive such measures to be inappropriate and ineffective. Statistics on fatalities and injuries caused by dogs cannot be responsibly used to document the "dangerousness" of a particular breed".

DOWNLOAD THE AVMA REPORT HERE: http://www.avma.org/pubhlth/dogbite/dogbite.pdf

Help Track Breed Bias In The Media!

Help make sure that good dogs don't get a bad rap! If you see a news report concerning dogs or animals in the newspaper, in print, on the web, or on TV, please take a few minutes to fill out our survey on the story!   Together, we can help educate the media to report responsibly on dog and other animal-related stories.

Report Insurance Discrimination

Report A Breed Bias Incident