Madam, - Dublin City Council, in its wisdom, has decided to ban from city property a number of breeds of dogs on the grounds that these dogs are dangerous.
Strikingly, the list of "dangerous breeds" seems to include every "foreign" breed except French poodles and Mexican Chihuahuas. Leaving aside that the legislation allows the authorities to class any dog at all as being of a "dangerous" breed regardless of its actual breeding, the logic of banning dogs by breed as a means of protecting the public is absurd. Should we likewise ban white vans because they are involved in a disproportionate number of traffic accidents? Should we ban trainers and hoodies since they are the favoured garb of a criminal element? The whole thing reeks of hysteria, xenophobia and simple ignorance.
American Pit Bulls, for instance, are regularly used as therapy dogs for old-age dementia victims in Massachusetts. German Shepherds, also on the banned list, are used nearly everywhere as guide dogs for the blind. The simple truth is that bad people have bad dogs because they encourage their dogs to be bad, just as they have bad cars because they drive them badly.
There are plenty of things the Council could do to make public housing safer, but banning certain breeds of dogs isn't one of them. Not only is it a waste of time, it is also a cruel and unwarranted punishment of innocent dog-owners and their pets. Someone once said that for every difficult question there is always a simple answer and it is always wrong. This is a textbook example of that. - Yours, etc,
KURT TIDMORE, Carrigaline, Co Cork.
A Chara, - I am aghast at Dublin City Council's decision to ban so-called dangerous dog breeds from its properties. As the owner of a Staffordshire cross, and with several friends who own Staffordshires, I can say with my hand on my heart that Staffordshire Bull Terriers are the most loyal and friendly dogs one could possible hope to have.
Can council members not get it into their heads that it is irresponsible owners and not the breed that makes a dog dangerous? How can they possibly justify penalising thousands of responsible, law-abiding dog owners for the actions of a few irresponsible ones?
This rash and ridiculous decision is an outrage and will result in many well-behaved and loving dogs being unnecessarily put down. - Is mise,
DEIRDRE WILLIAMS, Lissadel Drive, Drimagh, Dublin 12.