On March 25th the One Health Intellectual
Exchange welcomed Browen Dickey, a contributing editor of The Oxford American
to discuss “’Demon dogs’ or panicked public? A history of breed scares through
the ages.”
Ms. Dickey states that through her research she found breed
scares are often cyclic, relative to current society, and often not necessarily
about the breeds themselves but potential tension between different social groups.
Breed scares/bans began as early as 1066 with the Mastiff. This was when
royalty did not want those of lower social cast owning these dogs due to the
potential of hunting on land owned by the king. Through her research she found
that often breed scares could be pin pointed to certain events, such as the St.
Bernard and the release of the movie Cujo or guard dog breeds with the increase
of crime rates.
The current breed scare? The Pit Bull. This “bully” breeds is beginning to be banned
by apartment complexes and making it into certain state legislations. Starting
in 1974 when dog fighting in certain rings became a popular topic. A media
blitz came to bring the breed into the forefront, with reporters and
journalists relying on the general public and dog fighters for information on
this breed. Ms. Dickey has carried out an effort to interview owners nationwide
to gain a better understanding of the Pit Bull breed. She found that that these
dogs are often like any other breed, have a bad rap. They are often sweet,
kind, and loyal to the owner.
Ms. Dickey made two points about breed panic that stuck out
the most: it can lead to exacerbating the problem and letting human’s off the
hook. So what will be the next breed to cause panic? Only time will tell.
Authored by Jessica Vasquez
No comments:
Post a Comment