Breed-specific legislation (BSL) targets certain dog breeds based on appearance, but evidence shows it fails to improve public safety while causing significant welfare harm to individual animals.
Dogs caught by BSL face profound welfare costs: removal from their owners and familiar environment, prolonged kennel confinement while awaiting legal proceedings, and in many cases euthanasia for appearance alone. Prolonged kennel stress causes measurable psychological harm including stereotypies, hypervigilance and learned helplessness. The injustice is compounded by evidence that the policy achieves none of its stated safety goals. Welfare-focused approaches target individual dangerous dogs and their owners, not entire breeds.