Breed-specific legislation does not distinguish between an American Bully from a registered breeder and a mixed-breed dog from the municipal shelter. If your dog looks like a targeted breed, the law applies the same way. Bully-type dogs come from every kind of source, shelters, rescues, strays, and breeders alike, so this article is written for every owner of an affected dog, regardless of where the dog came from.

What Breed-Specific Legislation Is

Breed-specific legislation, often shortened to BSL, refers to laws that regulate or ban dogs based on their breed or appearance rather than their individual behavior. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, these laws single out one or two breeds for control and can create a false sense of accomplishment while ignoring the factors that actually predict bite risk. Pit bull-type dogs are the most commonly targeted, with breeds such as Rottweilers, Doberman Pinschers, and others appearing in some local ordinances.

The American Kennel Club also opposes breed-specific legislation. The AKC argues that BSL unfairly penalizes responsible owners while failing to hold the owners of genuinely dangerous dogs accountable, and it instead supports strongly enforced, breed-neutral dangerous dog laws.

The Current Legal Landscape

Breed laws in the United States are increasingly set at the state level rather than left to individual cities. According to the Animal Legal and Historical Center at Michigan State University, approximately 22 states have some form of anti-BSL law. These laws fall into two groups: roughly 10 states prohibit breed-specific regulation in all animal control law, and about 16 states prohibit it specifically within dangerous or vicious dog statutes.

Denver is a useful example of how repeal actually works in practice. As the City and County of Denver documents, voters approved Ballot Measure 2J in November 2020, and the change took effect January 1, 2021. Rather than a clean repeal, Denver replaced its long-standing pit bull ban with a provisional breed-restricted permit. Owners must complete a breed assessment and obtain an annual permit before the dog can be removed from the restricted list after a period without violations. The lesson is that "repeal" can still leave compliance steps in place.

Why Major Organizations Oppose Breed Bans

The case against breed-specific legislation rests on two findings. The first is that breed is a poor predictor of which dogs bite. The American Veterinary Medical Association reports that more reliable risk factors include the dog's reproductive status, supervision, and containment than its breed.

The second finding is that breed bans do not reliably improve public safety. The ASPCA states that no convincing data shows breed bans have succeeded anywhere to date, and it points to jurisdictions where bites from other breeds rose after a single breed was banned. The ASPCA contrasts this with breed-neutral approaches, citing Calgary's model, which it reports was associated with meaningful reductions in aggression and bite incidents.

The Problem of Breed Identification

A core problem with breed-based law is that visual breed identification is unreliable. A peer-reviewed study by Olson and colleagues, published in The Veterinary Journal and summarized by the University of Florida Shelter Medicine Program, found that shelter staff identified dogs with pit bull heritage only about 33 to 75 percent of the time depending on the staff member, and that different staffers viewing the same dogs reached only moderate agreement. In that study, staff collectively labeled far more dogs as pit bull-type than DNA testing supported.

The practical consequence is significant. A dog may be classified as a restricted breed based on how it looks to one person on one day, even when its actual genetic background is something different. Owners of mixed-breed dogs are especially exposed, because they may not know what their dog is until a landlord, insurer, or animal control officer makes that judgment by appearance.

What Breed-Neutral Laws Do Instead

The alternative favored by the AVMA, the AKC, and the ASPCA is breed-neutral dangerous dog legislation. Under this model, any dog of any breed can be designated dangerous based on documented behavior rather than looks. The AKC supports laws that identify dangerous dogs through stated, measurable actions, impose penalties on irresponsible owners, and establish a clear process for handling dogs that have been proven dangerous. The dog's origin, whether purebred, rescue, shelter, or backyard litter, is not the deciding factor. Behavior is.

Practical Realities for Owners of Affected Breeds

Even where municipal breed bans have been repealed, breed restrictions can persist elsewhere. Many apartment complexes and homeowner associations keep their own breed restriction lists independent of local law. Some insurers still exclude or surcharge certain breeds, and airline and hotel policies vary. Before moving, renting, or traveling with a bully-type dog, it is worth confirming current policies at your destination rather than assuming a statewide preemption law settles the question.

Documentation helps. A dog with a clear behavioral history, training records, a Canine Good Citizen certification, and veterinary notes is easier to advocate for than a dog with no paper trail. This is true whether your dog came from a breeder with a multi-generation pedigree or from a shelter with an intake card and a microchip. Local breed-specific rescue groups are often the best current source for landlord and insurer information, because they navigate these restrictions for their dogs constantly.

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Sources

  1. American Veterinary Medical Association. (n.d.). Why breed-specific legislation is not the answer. https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/pet-owners/dog-bite-prevention/why-breed-specific-legislation-not-answer
  2. American Kennel Club. (n.d.). Issue analysis: Why breed-specific legislation doesn't work. https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/news/issue-analysis-breed-specific-legislation/
  3. American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. (n.d.). Position statement on breed-specific legislation. https://www.aspca.org/about-us/aspca-policy-and-position-statements/position-statement-breed-specific-legislation
  4. Animal Legal and Historical Center, Michigan State University. (n.d.). Overview of states that prohibit BSL. https://www.animallaw.info/article/overview-states-prohibit-bsl
  5. City and County of Denver. (2021). Denver pit bull fact sheet. https://www.denvergov.org/files/assets/public/v/1/animal-shelter/documents/restrictedbreed_faq_1.8.21.pdf
  6. University of Florida Shelter Medicine Program. (2016). Shelters and veterinarians not reliable at identifying pit bulls (summary of Olson et al., The Veterinary Journal). https://sheltermedicine.vetmed.ufl.edu/2016/02/16/shelters-and-veterinarians-not-reliable-at-identifying-pit-bulls/