I agree with you whole heartedly. While I am not in favour of poor legislation of any sort, nor am I a fan of governments telling us what we can and cannot do, when it comes to animals I can see no reason to make freely available any more difficult breeds; in the case you are discussing these are fighting dogs which is why the ban (though technically you can own them with restriction, so not even a ban- correct me if I am wrong here).

to own them you have committed an offense. once found guilty a court can judge that you can keep the animal if it is deemed to pose no threat thats when the restriction come in (always on lead, muzzled, neutured, microchipped, tatooed)

If the dog is not allowed then the argument for welfare is hypothetical; no dogs, no pups born therefore no welfare issues. Make them freely available then we have some good owners and some bad owners (and yes I know it applies to all breeds); the bad owners create welfare issues for their animals and their children or other peoples children- read the press.

read the press about these "pitbull types"? That police struggle to identify? this argument is weak. we have terrible welfare issues with staffies, rotties etc.

There seems to be some misguided idea that there is no genetic component to dog aggression and that an aggressive dog brought up right will be peaceful and loving and ignore its instinct- people should get real: and by the way what happens if the owners have good intentions but don't train the dog? Or they don't have good intentions?

Why would a dog fighter want his dog to be agressive toward humans? he wouldnt. I dont know much about other breeds but a pitbull as a breed is not in anyway naturally human agressive

Blaming the 'deed not the breed' is all well and good but we then wait for the deed to happen; perhaps an infant killed, and then we can apportion blame.

CSV is a czech wolf dog.

I have a friend with Central Asian Ovcharkas that are absolutely fine, in fact very much like my Estrelas in temperament. Estrelas have only been over here for 30 years, Anatolians, Maremmas, Tibetan Mastiffs etc. are all guarding breeds which are established in the UK and don't cause any trouble. Why? Because they are being responsibly bred and new owners are being vetted. More breeds does not equal more dogs in rescue. Banning breeds has brought the Staffordshire Bull Terrier to crisis point with far too many being bred and pts each day. The 'hard dog' was once the GSD, then the Dobermann, the Rottweiler, now it's anything the law says you cannot own. And yet people still manage to own them. It's not working. The best thing the government could do would be to change the DDA so it doesn't mention specific breeds.

If you notice, the pit bull fatalities seem to occur in houses where drug abuse and dealing is going on. Maybe cracking down on drugs, gangs etc. would have a knock on effect. I have customers who have pit type dogs, they look hard, the dogs wear leather, spikes and chains. They are also some of the best loved and trained dogs I see. I'd pet them before I'd touch most of the toy breeds that come in.

When will people stop judging others by what dogs they prefer?

So inline with this thread then we need to legalise hard drugs and this will cut down on drug related crime?

What next? Legalise alcohol and people will become responsible drinkers?

I'm not giving an opinion as I really don't know these breeds or indeed many breeds first hand.
But, aren't there certain breeds out there that really are just not suitable for the vast majority of dog owners? Maybe breeds that have not had the "rawer" elements of their guarding or fighting instincts bred out. If that's the case then I wouldn't want there to be any possibility of these dogs getting into the wrong hands, so maybe a ban is the best thing?

Not sure wherer you are going with that. Dog fighting is big business for dealers. Get rid of the dealers and the dog fighting will cease. Black and white I know, but obviously banning pit bulls didn't work.

Your CSV was never banned under the dangerous dogs act. They could be owned, un-neutred with a DWA licence. But they have now been recently banned in Norway. I have never heard of a fatal attack by one though.

well there are many dogs that i personally wouldnt view as wise for an inexperienced owner that can be bought and sold freely.

Banning certain breeds put simply hasnt worked. it was a rushed piece of kneejurk legislation that has failed to protect the public. it needs changing quickly