Victories in 2008

Having a dog who looks like a pit bull (or any maligned breed) can be tough in this day and age. It's hard to get insurance, some cities will kill your dog on sight, and you are ostracized and condemned by family, friends, coworkers and the community at large. Why even bother? Well, anyone with a pit bull as a companion knows the answer - because the dogs matter, they deserve better and we can all continue the good fight in improving their chances at a good life.

It's easy to fall prey to negative thinking, but I think it's important to remember the positive things that happened for pit bulls and other maligned breeds this year. And remember, these changes and victories occurred because people did something. Remember that.
Without further ado, here are some of the victories for 2008.

Sports Illustrated puts a pit bull on the cover of their magazine, highlighting how the dogs rescued from Michael Vick's property are doing. The article is superb and sorta makes up for the 1987 cover depicting an aggressive-looking pit bull dog and the line "Beware of this dog".

A huge victory for dogs in the Netherlands, which reversed its 15 year ban of pit bulls after bite statistics yielded no improved safety for the general public because of the ban.

The state of Massachusetts introduced a bill to ban breed bans.

The list of communities that said no to BSL or reversed BSL(this list may not be all inclusive):

1. Perryville, MO
2. Gurnee, IL
3. West Liberty, IA
4. Joplin City, MO
5. Brighton, CO
6. HB 2553, PA
7. Farmington Hills, MI
8. Rantoul, IL
9. Grand Island, NE
10. Wyandotte, MI
11. Marion County, WV
12. Spencer, IA
13. Ravenna, OH
    
14. Madisonville, TX (reversed BSL)
15. Mosinee, WI
16. Minnesota
17. Plymouth, MI
18. Wayne County
19. Whitehall, OH
20. Reading, PA (Court case reversed BSL)
21. Forsyth County, NC
22. Edwardsville, KS
23. Burnham, IN
24. Waterloo, IA
25. Tennessee
26. Baltimore County, MD
27. West Allis, WI (mayor vetoes pit bull ban)

In addition to the adoption of non breed specific dangerous dog ordinances, stop_bsl has a great list of articles portraying pit bulls and other breeds in a positive light.

Keep up the good work in 2009!