BSL (Breed Specific Legislation)shoud be PSL (People Specific Legislation)!

Breed specific legislation, specifically in Boston and also nationwide is never going to work. Owners should be the ones being restricted, not the dogs. There should be a law that says that you have to have a special license to own any of the so called 'vicious breeds' (german shephards, dobermans, "pit bulls", rotteweilers). The license would only be able to be obtained after taking several classes, at the cost of the prospective pet owner, maybe approximately 75 dollars total, and after a very comprehensive written test they could receive a license and maybe a voucher for 25 dollars off of spaying and nuetering. If someone is found to have one of these dogs and doesn't have a license for owning it, their dog could be seized and the person fined $1000 dollars per dog. The problem with 'vicious dogs' is their owners and their treatment. Pit bulls in particular are stigmatized to begin with, which perpetuates the cycle of violence these dogs are subject to. Pit bulls are this very moment being trained as service dogs, rescue dogs and the like, as they are extremely intelligent and loyal..even more so than labrador retrievers. Their proven intelligence level is 30\% higher than most other breeds and they can tolerate much harsher conditions than other breeds, making them excellent search and rescue dogs. Yes, the breed is known for animal aggression, but so are Akitas, Chow Chows, and many other breeds. But how many times do you see a newspaper or TV news report about the Chihuahua who bit ten kids this week? Also, pit bulls score higher than many breeds in temperment testing including Golden retrievers,Chihuahuas, Great Danes,Border Collies,and Dalmations. They generally score an 83.9\%..compared to a Chihuaha (69.7\%), a Daschund (66.7\%), or even a golden retriever (83.2\%). A dog, in general, understands about 20,000 words by the time they are 3 years old..about the same as a 7 year old child. When people mistreat a dog they understand it all too well. Pit bulls are one of the most commonly mistreated dogs simply because people don't have the patience or understanding to train them. A license would help prove that a person has the perseverance responsibility, and patience to own a potentially difficult dog. This petition is to convince officials that they are approaching the dog bite problem in the wrong manner. Approaching the problem from within the human population will result in reduction of problems from the canine population.