On October 6th, a team of American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) animal behavior experts arrived in Beaufort, S.C., to conduct behavior assessments of more than 100 dogs living in Marine Corps housing units in the South Carolina Tri-Command area.
This visit by ASPCA behaviorists comes after these dogs became the subject of a ‘breed ban’ recently instituted by Marine Corps headquarters. This policy specifically bans purebred and mixed-breed Pit Bulls, Rottweilers, and wolf hybrids, as well as canines with "dominant traits of aggression" who pose a risk to people living in U.S. Marine Corps housing worldwide.
“Our goal in coming to the Parris Island base is to make sure safe dogs and their families are able to stay together,” says Dr. Emily Weiss, ASPCA Senior Director of Shelter Research & Development, “and so far, the results have been positive."
After assessing individual canines with SAFER (the ASPCA Safety Assessment for Evaluation Rehoming)—a research-based tool that helps identify the likelihood of canine aggression—ASPCA behaviorists report that of the approximately 65 dogs assessed to date, only two have had significant aggression issues. “One, we believe, will be able to be managed while on base,” comments Dr. Weiss. “The vast majority, however, are well-loved, well-behaved, family pets.”
The families of safe dogs will be given the opportunity to apply for a waiver, allowing their dogs to remain on the base until 2012. "We're very excited about the ASPCA’s assessment," says Army Capt. Jenifer Gustafson, the Officer in Charge of the veterinary clinic on Parris Island.
"This is a welcome alternative to the unpleasant possibility of pet parents being forced to give up their dogs, or leave base housing.”
The ASPCA is opposed to breed bans, which target entire breeds instead of focusing on individual dogs. Aggressive canines are usually the result of owners failing to provide proper training, and very often, the result of human cruelty and abuse.
I’ve been opposed to ‘Breed Specific Legislation’ for a very long time, and having worked with dogs for many years, I believe that canine aggression is almost always caused by we human beings. Dogs are not born vicious; vicious human beings make them so.
There are far too many pets now losing their homes to foreclosure in this country, and Breed Ban laws only add to the horrendous number of homeless pets in America today.
I salute both the Marines who called them in, and the ASPCA canine behavioral experts who are helping these military families to keep their beloved pets.
And if you want to see a heart wrenching story of an extremely loyal dog, watch the video below. This dog is a Rottweiler – a supposedly ‘aggressive breed of dog,’ now often unjustly included in these new ‘Breed Ban’ Laws.
Bless you! Jasmin Horst
Although the Corps never said nothing, a 100 pounds German Shepherd would you consider a "pet"? But Kaiser was.
Georg