Cities can Ban Pit Bulls

A federal appeals court upheld an Iowa city ban on pit bull dogs.

I did not know breeds could be banned for being undesirable.

They [the dog owners] presented evidence from canine behavior experts and recent scientific studies about predicting a dog's propensity to bite based on its breed. According to the dog owners, this evidence, viewed most favorably to them, negates every conceivable basis for the Ordinance by establishing: "(1) Pit Bull type dogs are no more or less dangerous than other breeds of dogs; (2) neither breed nor physical characteristics are predictive of a dog's aggressiveness or propensity to bite; and (3) the city's method of identifying dogs as Pit Bulls is inherently unreliable."

As for dangerousness, the dog owners argue that experts in canine genetics and behavior currently acknowledge that pit bulls are no more or less dangerous than similarly sized dogs of other breeds.

This sounds just like antiracism arguments.

Behavioral traits are heritable. Hence dog breeds will have varying levels of dangerousness. That is obvious. It is fake egalitarian foolishness to say that breeds cannot be more or less dangerous.

Pit bulls are source of a huge number of dog bite complaints. What is that, a coincidence? Discrimination? Even if it is partially attributable to bad training on the part of the pit bull owners, it is still a reality.

Saying that the breed is not predictive is more nonsense. Pit bulls are 6% of the US dog population but a majority of bites.

When the pit bull owners say that the breed is not predictive, they presumably mean that some pit bulls are well-behaved and do not bite. So they mean the breed is not predictive with 100% accuracy.

That is like saying that weather predictions are not predictive. Of course they are predictive. They have a probability of being wrong, but that is the nature of predictions.

There are those who say race does not exist, because some people are half Black and half White. Likewise I guess they argue that dog breeds do not exist. Nevertheless, if a city does not want excess dog bites, it makes sense to ban any dog that looks like a pit bull.

The problem with pit bulls is that they are very loyal to their masters, and aggressive to others, and particularly vicious in biting attacks. Often the owners are oblivious to how nasty their dogs are, and figure that anyone who gets bitten deserved it. Also, people who want mean dogs get pit bulls.

The problem could be completely solved if a law were passed allowing pit bulls to be shot on site. There are plenty of other dogs available.