Dog lovers don red and black ribbons for breed ban awareness campaign

For Immediate Release:
August 28, 2000

For more information, Patti L. Strand, (503) 761-1139; naia@involved.com

Portland, Oregon: The National Animal Interest Alliance urges dog lovers everywhere to wear red and black ribbons to show support for responsible dog ownership and opposition to Germany's breed bans and restrictions.

Citing dog training as a key element of responsible dog ownership and the sensible alternative to breed-specific laws, NAIA extends the red-and-black ribbon solidarity campaign to cities and towns all over America, especially where breed-specific bans have been proposed or already passed into law.

"Previous European breed bans aroused the apprehension of some American dog owners, but it took the recent breed extermination crisis in Germany to sound the global alarm that many breeds could be a simple pen-stroke away from official banishment," said Patti Strand, NAIA president. American Staffordshire Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Bull Terriers, American Pit Bull Terriers, and similar breeds are current targets for these laws. But American Bulldogs, Chows, Rottweilers, Akitas, German Shepherds, and others are singled out with increasing frequency. In the current reactive atmosphere in Germany, more than 40 breeds are threatened.

According to Strand, "Responsible dog ownership and reasonable, enforceable laws, not draconian prohibitions, are the keys to preventing tragedies like the ones that precipitated the spate of anti-dog laws in Germany. Breed-specific laws fail because they do not take into consideration the reality that any dog, regardless of its physical characteristics, must be raised, trained and socialized properly to become a good pet and canine good citizen. Breed bans undermine responsible dog ownership by diverting attention from the real issue, which is the need for dog owners to educate themselves about their dogs' behavioral needs and to provide socialization and training consistent with those needs. Dog owners who understand this produce good dogs regardless of the breed or mix."

Therefore, instead of passing unfair, ineffective laws, NAIA advocates developing animal control programs that encourage dog owners to properly socialize, train, and care for their dogs, so that they can become good canine citizens and remain prominent members of the cultural landscape.

NAIA applauds those groups and individuals that have been successful in promoting reasonable laws and challenges dog owners everywhere to merge into a larger effort to defeat or overturn breed-specific laws and to focus their attention on public education and on regulations that hold owners accountable for the behavior of their dogs, whether purebred or mixed. NAIA asks communities to judge dogs by their deeds rather than their appearance.

Hundreds or thousands or tens of thousands of red-and-black ribbons will unite dog fanciers in this cause and help spread the word that breed-specific laws are ineffective, unfair, costly, and counterproductive in building successful animal control programs.

Although breed-specific legislation refers to dogs, all animal owners are in jeopardy when animals are regulated or banned based on misinformation, political expediency, and fear. Clubs, organizations, and individuals can spread the word about responsible ownership by wearing a red-and-black ribbon, fashioning ribbons to distribute at their events, and talking to friends, neighbors, and acquaintances about owner education and accountability.

To add your organization or your personal endorsement to this campaign click on the icon below and sign up! To encourage others to join the campaign, place the red-and-black ribbon graphic on your website as a link to our website and we'll carry your message of responsible dog ownership to the American public.

The National Animal Interest Alliance is a coalition of clubs, associations, and individuals dedicated to the welfare of animals, preserving the human-animal bond, and rational approaches to solving problems that beset animals, animal owners and society. The red-and-black ribbon campaign exemplifies NAIA's approach to animal welfare issues with its twin messages opposing irrational breed-specific legislation and supporting public education and responsible animal ownership. NAIA recommends programs that emphasize training and socialization for pets and accountability for pet owners. We invite dog owners everywhere to join the cause: to educate the public about the benefits of training their dogs, about the need for reasonable dangerous dog laws and enforceable animal control ordinances.