Pres. Obama has come out against breed-specific legislation - laws and regulations aimed at a specific breed of dog, often pitbulls are the target.
The White House issued a response to an online petition on the We the People web page, which gathered more than 30,000 signatures. The petition asked the Obama Administration to denounce breed specific laws, stating that breed-specific laws are ineffective, biased and cause the loss of innocent family dogs based solely on their breed or physical characteristics.
In the response, the White House said research shows bans on certain types of dogs are largely ineffective and often a waste of public resources.
The White House said in 2000, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looked at 20 years of data about dog bites and human fatalities in the United States. They found that fatal attacks represent a very small proportion of dog bite injuries to people and that it's virtually impossible to calculate bite rates for specific breeds,
The CDC also noted that the types of people who look to exploit dogs aren't deterred by breed regulations -- when their communities establish a ban, these people just seek out new, unregulated breeds. And the simple fact is that dogs of any breed can become dangerous when they're intentionally or unintentionally raised to be aggressive.
The White House supports CDC recommendations for a community-based approach to prevent dog bites.
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