Breed Specific Legislation

[Loreley]

I noticed on Renbury's site a dog that was listed that it wasn't available until after an assessment by a qualified person (or something similar), I'm presuming this is to ascertain whether said dog was American Pit Bull.

The thing that is confusing me is there were a number of dogs that looked similar, why this specific dog and not others?

[ricecooker]

I'd noticed the same thing. I'm no expert but my guess would be this particular dog has exhibited some kind of behaviour that may make him not rehomeable maybe? I saw that clause next to a dog that was definitely not an American Pit Bull Terrier, not a bully breed at all from memory.

[Leah82]

Each dog has their own circumstances. If you are talking about beautiful Savana she very clearly looks like a pit bull, the red nose is a big give away. I'm not sure why she needs to be assessed by a qualified breed assessor, maybe someone else can answer that question.

As for the other dogs, the only other one what would be iffy would be Tank and he was surrendered by his owner so they would have a more detailed history than that of a stray

[melzawelza]

Savannah has to be breed assessed as the Council has specifically requested it for her. The other dogs don't need to be because the Council didn't feel it necessary. It's all totally subjective really and just depends on how the individual officer on the individual day feels about that individual dog.

By all accounts she's a lovely, lovely dog so even if she comes back as a cross breed she should pass her temp test.

Leah many, many breeds have red noses, and any mix of any of those breeds could produce a short coated, medium sized , red nosed dog. A red nose is not any sort of giveaway that a dog must be an APBT. Nor does lack of a red nose mean a dog isn't an APBT. You're right though in that that 'look' is what seems to draw attention in this country. Seems here red nose = APBT, any other colour nose = Amstaff. The Yanks can't wrap their head around it when I'm over there talking to them about it :laugh:

Edited September 30, 2014 by melzawelza

[melzawelza]

I'd noticed the same thing. I'm no expert but my guess would be this particular dog has exhibited some kind of behaviour that may make him not rehomeable maybe? I saw that clause next to a dog that was definitely not an American Pit Bull Terrier, not a bully breed at all from memory.

Breed assessments are to do with the dog's appearance only, not behaviour. You might have seen another dog that was reclaim or rescue only because of behaviour.

[Loreley]

interestingly though when I googled Amstaff and Pitbull it was saying that they are both slang terms for the same dog which makes it even more confusing

[Leah82]

yep, and Pit bulls are banned in VIC but Amstaff's aren't

go figure.

Just goes to show how ridiculous BSL is although that's a conversation for another section of the forum

[melzawelza]

interestingly though when I googled Amstaff and Pitbull it was saying that they are both slang terms for the same dog which makes it even more confusing

The Amstaff and APBT are genetically identical but have been bred along different lines for some time now. The Amstaff was created from the APBT without adding any other breeds. They last opened the studbooks to APBT in the 70s. I guess it's worth thinking of them similar to the 'show line' and 'working line' GSD. They're basically the same breed but have gone down different paths.

And yep Leah's right, all around Australia where the APBT is restricted the Amstaff isn't. Aus is an anomaly though - every other country that has implemented BSL includes Amstaffs under the 'pit bull' banner. Everywhere else but the UK also includes the Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

[megan_]

yep, and Pit bulls are banned in VIC but Amstaff's aren't

It is only pedigree amstaffs that are safe. Dogs that look a certain way - regardless of breed - are in danger, including amstaffs.