Mistakes in Advocacy - Throwing other breeds under the bus
Six ways dog advocates sabotage themselves
While the intentions of many online advocates are good, some of their comments are unhelpful – even dangerous – in the big picture. Over the next 6 days we are going to talk about the five most common mistakes we see in Facebook threads.
Owner or victim blaming
Inflammatory and defensive responses
"it's all how you raise them"
Online petitions
"But MY dog is the best/ wouldn’t hurt a fly/ is a therapy dog"
Throwing other breeds under the bus
After almost a week of reading online comments, the most common post I see is “why isn’t XYZ breed banned” or “we all know XYZ breed bites more often”! Most common, the breed reference is a small breed, usually a chihuahua.
While we understand the frustration and fear in the community, throwing another breed under the bus is never going to be helpful. At Justice for Bullies we have never considered ourselves “pit bull” advocates. We are advocates for fair, effective breed neutral legislation for ALL breeds.
We believe that dogs are individuals, so how could we preach this one minute, and then tell someone that poodles/collies/chihuahuas bite more?
We quote research that tells us breed is not a risk factor for aggression. If that’s true for “pit bulls” we need to accept that it is true for chihuahuas.
If we wish to educate the public and draw support from others, we will not accomplish this by pointing fingers at their breeds of dogs.
Lastly, if we are in a serious discussion with someone who is pro-BSL, telling them that “chihuahuas bite more” is only going to ruin your credibility. People support BSL because they are afraid of what an aggressive large dog can do. They have probably seen attack stories in the media. Some may have personal experience.
Doesn’t it make more sense to acknowledge their concerns and tell them that you support legislation that targets aggression in ALL breeds, and holds owners accountable for their dog’s actions? Do you think anyone has won an argument by convincing someone that an 8 pound dog is the same safety threat as an 80 pound dog?
