Every Breed Has Bad Dogs
By Glenn Bohn, Vancouver Sun
British expert on aggressive dogs is critical of Vancouver dog owners who leave their animals chained up all day.
April 28, 2003 VANCOUVER, CANADA -- A British expert in aggressive dogs says a law in Britain that imposes restrictions on the owners of pit bulls has proven to be a disaster.
Roger Mugford, who gave three talks in Vancouver over the weekend, urged Canadians not to follow the example of Britain, Germany and other places that require certain breeds of dogs to wear a muzzle in public and be on a lead at all times.
"It doesn't make sense," said Mugford, who earned his PhD at the University of Hull studying aggression in dogs.
"There's no objective reason to do that to pit bulls. If anything, there would be more objective reasons to do that to Jack Russell terriers, a British breed, and German shepherds, a German breed, because pit bulls are not high on the list for human attacks."
According to Mugford there is no evidence that Britain's 1991 Dangerous Dog Act has been effective in reducing the number of dog attacks on people by singling out pit bulls. But he said another section of the same law has made dog owners more cautious, because owners can now be convicted of a criminal offence if their dog bites someone.
Mugford testified at the trial of Princess Anne, who was convicted of that offence last November after Dotty, her English bull terrier, bit two boys in a park. She had to pay a $1,200-fine and $600 in compensation to the victims.
Last December in Vancouver, 14-year-old Shenica White suffered horrific facial injuries when attacked by two unleashed mastiff-rottweilers. The dogs were later euthanized, but there have been no fines imposed on the dogs' owners.
In March, three rottweilers killed a four-year-old boy in his backyard in Saint John. That prompted a pledge from the Nova Scotia government that municipalities there would be given the power to ban certain breeds of dogs.
Winnipeg and at least seven cities in Ontario and Quebec already have breed-specific bans or restrictions.
Mugford said genetics and a dog's upbringing determine which individual dogs become aggressive, and poor health and living conditions are often the triggers for attacks. Mugford said one-third of problem dogs referred to him had medical problems. Dogs are "stoics" that try to hide their illnesses, he said, to disguise vulnerability so they won't be attacked by other animals.
Mugford, who flew into Vancouver Thursday and experienced West Coast rain, was critical of dog owners who leave leashed, unsupervised dogs in their backyards for hours at a time.
"You wouldn't tie your children outside," he said. "Keep them indoors with you. And if you can't do that, don't keep a dog. Dogs should not be left unsupervised. You should know where a dog is at all times.
"Dogs, just like human beings who get locked up for no reason, will get mean and bitter," he said.
Mugford conceded many people leave their dogs in their yards alone during the day. But he suggested dog owners try negotiating with their employers so they can bring pets into the workplace, talk to neighbours who might be willing to dog-sit, or drop off their dogs at day-time boarding kennels, where dogs can play with other dogs.
"If you can't do any of those things, then you shouldn't have a dog," he said.
