Open Letter About Breed Specific Legislation: Assessing Risk

The following is a letter from a reader concerned about breed specific legislation in Denmark that resulted in the death of a canine and, ultimately his owner.

An outline of this 2010 law:

The following dogs are on the ban list:

1) Pitbull terrier
2) Tosa inu
3) American staffordshire terrier
4) Fila brasileiro
5) Dogo argentino
6) American bulldog
7) Boerboel
8) Kangal
9) Central asian ovtcharka
10) Caucasian ovtcharka
11) Sout russian ovtcharka
12) Tornjak
13) Sarplaninac

Regarding those breeds:

A) All puppys “hatched” between March 17th and July 1th must be destroyed.

B) All other dogs must use a leash of max 2 metres and wear a muzzle in public.

C) It’s illegal to own, breed, import ANY of those races including mutts.

D) They may only be handled by a person of 18 years or older.

Worst of all, it’s the owners responsibility to prove the race of the dog.
That means that all other races/mutts who LOOKS LIKE a banned breed is in risk of muzzles and destroying, unless the owner can prove which breed the dog is. 

Breeds on an observationlist, more likely to be banned:

Polski owczarek podhalanski
Cao fila de sao miguel
Dogue de bordeaux
Bullmastiff
Mastiff
Mastino napoletano
Cane corsa italiano
Staffordshire bullterrier
Dogo canario
Anatolian sheep dog
Iberisk dogge

The “Iberisk dogge” is a danish name, no FCI standard exists on a dog and google search results, return only pictures of snails.

The Department of Justice says that the dog does not exist in Denmark, but a search of “Iberian Dog” will tell what kind of dog it is. I did the search, but none results on dog and still, the FCI does not have a standard of that dog-breed.

It does not exist, yet the Department of Justice bans it? 

Of course, something has to be done, but it’s proved in several other countries that BSL won’t work. And even worse, the danish government endanger all mutts and other breeds who LOOKS LIKE. In Denmark there are estimated 400.000 dogs without a pedigree, which makes them “lawless”.

Does any of you know a way to put pressure on a government, organizations which can help, dog-lover-groups, contacts to dogexperts, aggression-studies, etc. All sorts of information will be appreciated.

Best Regards
Henrik Stryhn
Denmark