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During the 1980's, many breeders and their respective clubs ignored the warning signs and
simply stated, 'It is just
a phase, it will pass'.
By the time the early 90's arrived the breed was in serious
trouble
and the breed enthusiasts, together with the clubs fought effortlessly on damage control
but it was too late in the eyes of the public, the damage had been done over
a decade ago.
Little by little, heads would turn as one walked down the street with their
lovable bullie and instead of hearing the phrase from times past,
'Oh, look at the pig dog'
one heard, 'Keep your monster away from me'.
It was, at most times, bearable because the
public reaction was usually 50% positive...until one day in June of 2000.
In
the middle of the day,
a child was slaughtered on a Hamburg school
playground by two trained,
starved and drugged dogs, a pit bull and
an American Staffordshire Terrier.
The public's outcry was loud and the politicians reacted.
Within months, dog ordinances sprang up with breed lists attached.
For the last three years, depending on what
part of Germany you lived in, stringent rules and laws were in place.
Temperment tests at a cost of $300.00 per dog, police background checks,
dogs after reaching 6 months of age must be leased and muzzled for life.
Steralization procedures were beginning for those dogs who passed the
temperament test...death awaited those dogs who did not.
The Minister of the Interior of
Germany, Otto Schilly told the press:
'The owners of these dogs are no different than low-life’s thugs
and drug pushers'
Lawsuits sprang-up across Germany from pet owners and
breeders, for everything from preventing their dogs from being destroyed,
steralized, muzzled to discrimination. The majority of these
failed...a few made it to some of the higher courts.
The laws here in
Lower Saxony (one of the worst places for dogs) were challenged by 4
lawsuits.
It took 3 years but the case finally made it to the Administration Court in
Berlin (now Leipzig) and the Lower Saxony law was thrown out. The main
reason being it was attached to a national security law for people and
this alone made it invalid. But what is important to note is that the judges
said the lawmakers cannot condemn an entire breed for the acts of one or
two...environment, breeding, genetics and how the owner raises the dog all
play into the picture.
This trial caused ordinances across Germany to be be void as they also
attached their ordinances to the national security law.
But the politicians quickly organized new drafts of dog laws to get rid of
our breed and others...some of these are in place now.
Then came the decision of the Constitutional Court in March 2004 on the
trial sponsored by the German Kennel Club. This case was filed in 2000
in an attempt to try and stop the
Import Ban and hopefully the breeding ban as well. This decision can
be found on the
NEWS PAGE.
Where we stand today:
This brings us to the point of our website.
Rudi and I have filed a lawsuit in 2001 to remove the Bull Terrier from the
list of dangerous breeds. This case was filed with the Administration Court
but has been dragging it's feet due to the trial over the Import Ban, as one
court wants to see how the other courts are ruling. After the ruling in
2003, where the states could decide their own laws concerning ownership and
breeding, we had to change directions.
In our state there
was a challenge to the law I
Now that the import ban decision is over, our case is expected to move quite
rapidly this year. It was made a bit more difficult by what the court
on March 16 stated but we are still not detered. They relied heavily
on lack of scientific proof that there is no genetic connection to certain
breeds and aggression.
For more information on our lawsuit and the evidence we will present to the
court:
CLICK HERE |