Beyond The Myth: A Film About Pit Bulls and Breed Discrimination
“Dog fighting fuels breed-specific legislation and dog bans. Irresponsible owners are really the problem, and irresponsible owners are dog fighters.”
“90% of fatal dog attacks that have been documented by the CDC between 1999 and 2005 – involved unaltered male dogs.”
The documentary film Beyond The Myth reveals the unfair and mistaken discrimination against the American Pit Bull Terrier and dog breeds that look similar to it—and explores how the American media has maligned these dog breeds to the degree that has caused cities across the U.S. to implement deadly breed-specific legislation.
The film investigates how these city-wide bans in towns like Denver, Miami, and Cincinnati have negatively impacted and harmed tens of thousands of families and dog owners. The film highlights how this legislation is deeply ignorant of the truth, and how it is not addressing the problem of bad dog ownership and instead blames entire breeds of dogs. Breed Specific Legislation is responsible for tearing pets away from families, ripping families apart, and has killed tens of thousands of innocent dogs across the country that were perfectly behaved family dogs caught up in ignorant and bad legislation.
Watching the film, viewers come to see that the prejudice against pit bull-like breeds is only that, and that tens of thousands of dog owners and dogs are being punished for a handful of bad dog owners, mainly dog fighters. These bad dog owners are the real problem and cities and counties still have not addressed this. Bad dog owners and dog fighters have wrongly perpetrated the belief that the breed is inherently violent, when as the film shows, it’s quite the opposite—these dogs are gentle, loving and highly social with all ages, and are considered good family dogs. “When a dog bites a human, more often than not it is the result of some form of extreme neglect and abuse. And if the dog is unneutered and lives on a chain outside, it can lead to dangerous frustration and aggression.”
But city and county administrators across the nation have caused these dogs and owners to pay a horrible price for government administrators’ ignorance, misinformation, and lack of knowledge about dogs and dog breeds. The film reveals how pit bulls are no more dangerous than Golden Retrievers or any other dog breed. It’s not the breed of dog that is the problem, it is the owner — especially if that dog is an unneutered male.
You owe it to yourself, your children, and the dog owners in your community to watch this film.
Film Length: 92 minutes
Public Premier: 2012
Watch the Full-Length Film
Watch the film on Amazon
Learn More About the Film
How to Fight Breed Specific Legislation (BSL)
Read more about the myths surrounding Pit Bulls here
ASPCA, What is Breed Specific Legislation (BSL)?
Position Statement on Breed-Specific Legislation, American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavio (AVSAB)
Dogster, 6 Ways You Can Fight Breed Specific Legislation in Your Community
One Green Planet, 10 Facts About Breed-Specific Legislation and How You Can Help Stop It
Animal Law, Breed-Specific Legislation in the U.S.
More Information About Pit Bulls & Pit Bull Mixes
Resources and Education for Responsible Breed Ownership, see American Pit Bull Foundation
Pit Bull Rescue Central, an educational, funding and listing resource for pit bull owners.
These 7 Rescues are Helping Pit Bulls Nationwide Live Their Best Lives, by Megan Walendzinski (2019)
Read the book, Pit Bull, Pit Bull: The Battle Over an American Icon, by Bronwen Dickey
Quotes from the Film
“It’s all in how they are bred, trained and raised.”
“There is no breed of dog known as the Pit Bull. The term Pit Bull comes from the American Pit Bull Terrier, which is a breed of dog recognized by the United Kennel Club and the American Dog Breeders Association. But the term Pit Bull is often used to describe a variety of breeds, basically any short-haired dog with a square-ish head and short muzzle.”
“Breed-specific legislation” is where there’s an ordinance or some type of law that is passed that only affects a certain breed.”
“There’s no dangerous breed, there are individual dogs that are dangerous.”
“The media has given pit bulls such a negative connotation.”
“SB 861 required mandatory castration, spaying and neutering, of pit bulls and pit bull mixes.”
“In 1989, the City of Denver outlawed certain dog breeds—the pit bull. When the law was passed in Denver, there was a round-up of pit bulls starting on May 9, 2005. Animal Control went door to door to forcibly remove all pit bull family pets. In three months, since the start of the ban, Denver killed over 340 pit bulls in just one facility.”
“The City of Denver impounded more than 1,900 pit bulls after the ordinance was instated, killing 1,453 of them.”
“Between January 2005 and April 2012, Denver Animal Control confiscated 1,300 dogs from owners as a result of their pit bull ban.”
“The City of Denver has killed over 4,000 dogs since 1989.”
“The City of Cincinnati – passed a bill in 1987 banning pit bulls. But the ordinance wasn’t enforceable. Cincinnati law enforcement trained officers to recognize pit bulls and formed a ‘vicious dog task force,’ to investigate vicious dogs. Since the ban, Cincinnati has killed nearly 400 pit bulls.”
“The City of Miami passed a pit bull ban in 1989 discriminating against breed-specific dogs. It’s more of an ordinance that looks at certain characteristics of a dog that discriminates against dog breeds based on the breed. Many innocent families have lost their dogs because of this specific ban.”
“If the dog has over 51% of the characteristics that are problematic in the City of Miami, the owner is given 48 hours to relocate the dog outside of Dade County.”
“One of the biggest animal cruelties ever committed is to take a family dog and remove it, and take it to the shelter – that dog will be traumatized forever.”
“Just last year, there were over 800 pit bulls killed in Miami-Dade County in 2009. Miami-Date Animal Serviced received nearly 4,000 pit bulls at their shelter between 2005-2009. 2,019 were killed.”
“There are 4.5 million dog bites reported to emergency rooms in the U.S. every year. That is a 0.0002% chance of being bit by a dog. Not an epidemic.” (Source: CDC)
“92% of people believe that pit bulls are portrayed negatively by the media.”
“60% of people with negative opinions of pit bulls say the media contributed the most to that opinion. Only 15% said their personal experience contributed the most to a negative opinion.”
“Newspapers were 9 times more likely to include the breed of the dog in the headline when the story involved a ‘pit bull.’”
“68% of articles with ‘pit bull’ in the headline also included the word ‘attack.”
“85% of American Pit Bull Terriers tested by the American Temperament Test Society (ATTS) have passed. They are the 6thmost tested breed.”
“When a dog is aggressive and showing aggressive behavior toward people – he is trying to create distance. The dog is afraid. There is a fear involved, the dog is afraid of the person or people.”
“Stewy is an American Pit Bull and is not allowed in most public parks. I can be fined for having my dog in this park.”
“The law enforcement is not being trained on vicious dog behavior, they are getting trained on ‘vicious’ dog breeds only – a dog with a big head, muscular body, and pointed tail.”
“Only 2% of dog professionals with the AKC and UKC correctly identified the APBT without also incorrectly identifying other breeds.”
“Most pit bull owners have good jobs and have a decent education. You can’t let ignorance thrive in a community, just because it’s dogs.”
“It’s not really about public safety, it’s really about targeting certain breeds of dogs.”
“In the 26 years that I have been working in this profession from veterinary technician to animal control officer to veterinarian now – I have never been bitten by a pit or a pit bull type dog. My worst dog bite was by a Golden Retriever.”
“In a one-year study, 129 different breeds of dogs were responsible for biting people in Colorado. The Golden Retriever topped the list with the highest number of bites.” (Coalition for Living Safely with Dogs, July 2007-July 2008)
“Dog fighting fuels breed-specific legislation and dog bans. Irresponsible owners are really the problem, and irresponsible owners are dog fighters.”
“This is why Michael Vick (NFL player) was killing so many dogs—because they did not want to fight. You cannot train a dog to fight. They do not want to fight. A dog that is willing to fight is extremely rare.”
“There is very small minority of bad dog owners.”
“The resources for the dog ban in Miami-Dade County: There is no particular task force set aside to find irresponsible dog owners (dog fighters) in Miami-Dade County, if there was – it would solve the problem. Instead, law enforcement just kills friendly breed-specific family dogs that are good dogs. Their time and tax-payer money would be so much better spent targeting the problem – bad, irresponsible dog owners or dog fighters. It’s $30,000 dollars wasted on picking up good dogs.”
“The fact that some breed specific dogs are illegal, you increase their desirability for some dog-fighting people. The largest at-risk youth are 13-17 years old. We need to get into the school to let them know this is not the way to go.”
“49 out of 53 pit bulls that were seized from Bad Newz Kennels were given a second chance.”
“On September 15, 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice published new rulings on service animals in the Federal Registry. State and local government entities have the ability to determine, on a case-by-case basis, whether a particular service animal can be excluded based on that particular animal’s actual behavior or history– not based on fears or generalization about how an animal or breed might behave.” But the City of Denver chose to ignore this U.S. federal proclamation.”
“34 different breeds of dogs were responsible for 1000 dog bite reports between 2005 and 2008 in Cincinnati.”
“For 25 years, Ohio had the only statewide Breed Specific Legislation in the U.S. All ‘pit bulls’ were considered vicious upon birth and Ohio owners were required to have costly insurance and muzzle their dogs.” In 2012, the Governor of Ohio signed into law HB 14, that would remove breed specific language from state law. But all current municipal ordinances have kept the BSL despite the passage of this ruling.”
“90% of fatal dog attacks that have been documented by the CDC between 1999 and 2005 – involved unaltered male dogs. And 25% were chained as well. And nearly 90% of 2-year-old children fatally attacked, were left unsupervised by their caretakers.”
“We need to stop people from breeding dangerous dogs, selling dangerous dogs, and being irresponsible owners letting their dogs run free in the public.”
“The dog bans, or BSL, in cities in the U.S. have not been effective. Any city that has BSL is expensive, and has not been effective at controlling the breeds population nor on dog bite statistics.”
“How much government power do you want over your animal? It’s not like a property relationship, they are family and like children to most people.”
“There are 12 states in the U.S. that prohibit the passage of Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) including Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Main, Minnesota, New Hersey, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Washington.”
“Breed discrimination is not just about Pit Bulls.”
Film Credits
Directed by: Libby Sherril
Written by: Libby Sherril
