SPCA petition against restricting breeds
Dogs tend to be judged, not on their character or temperament but on how they look.
And now their lives could be determined by the shape of their face, the size of their nose or the colour of their eyes.
SPCA New Zealand has set up an online petition to save these innocent lives.
The animal charity is concerned about the Government’s action plan to attempt to reduce dog bites.
They say they’re appalled that part of the action includes tighter restrictions around certain breeds, including preventing them from being re-homed by animal shelters.
The SPCA state that this has been categorically proven to not reduce dog bites which is why the petition has been set up to stop it from happening.
Chief executive Andrea Midgen says the most worrying part is the restriction on animal shelters, like the SPCA, preventing them from re-homing these dogs.
‘‘What is going to happen to all the dogs that are guilty of nothing else than their visual appearance?
‘‘Essentially the Government is proposing to kill thousands of innocent dogs. The SPCA is completely opposed to this, and we plan to fight this with full force.’’
The SPCA believes that each individual dog should be judged based on temperament and behaviour, not breed. This is why each dog re-homed by the SPCA undergoes health and behaviour assessments.
‘‘The main problem with the new action plan from the Government is that it is not evidencebased or derived from research. Studies worldwide show that breed-specific legislation does not work,’’ Midgen says.
The SPCA’S view, based on the available international scientific evidence, is that any dog may bite and that dogs should not be declared ‘menacing’ on the basis of visual appearance alone.
Migden says the SPCA supports the Government’s strategic focus that all dog owners should be responsible and that public education is a vital component of this.
‘‘We will try to work with the Government to come up with a sensible solution to the issue of dog bites in our communities without thousands of innocent dogs unnecessarily losing their lives.’’
Go to rnzspca.org.nz/saveinnocent-lives for more information.