Stop the Staffy Status Cycle

Hello fellow Staffy Fans!

Well, I'm sad to say that the Staffordshire Bull Terrier is receiving bad press again. Since that poor boy was attacked in Swindon (Article here), there has been yet more calls from (forgive me) ignorant people, to "ban the breed".

Forgetting for the moment, that calling for a ban on a breed is akin to saying all "Young People" are to blame for crime, or even worse, that it displays the same type of mindset and prejudice as a racist (judgement of an entire group of individuals based on a single characteristic). Forgetting that, I do appreciate why people fear Staffies - it is because of the Staffy Status Cycle.



The media only report sensational stories. There are more bites from smaller (and more aggressive) dogs but this doesn't sell papers and rarely gets reported to the Police. Even when the injuries are severe and the dog isn't a Staffy for example, a Labrador, the papers still make a point of saying Staffies are dangerous:

"'It wasn't a pitbull or a Staffordshire bull terrier that you would think would be dangerous"

With enough media coverage and misinformation out there, it soon becomes a 'fact' - after all, we never hear of Yorky attack do we? So it must never happen but we sure hear about Staffies - even when they are not sure they say "believed to be a SBT". People jump on the band wagon. The name Staffy becomes associated with fear. Then the Nanny Dog is suddenly more appealing to those that like to bully, intimidate, to carry weapons - to use Staffies as weapons. They become a 'Status Dog'. They are, after all, very easy to train. Why not make them fight?

Now we have Staffies who have not been trained by good owners - Staffies who fight to please their owner. Accidents happen, intentional attacks happen. This provides more fuel for the media money making machine. More papers sell. The fear of Staffies worsens and the fear of the Status Dog is something a thug can't do without. What is worse, is that good owners do not want to be associated with the image of owning 'Status Dog' for risk of being labelled a CHAV, scally or scum. But with all this backyard breeding -where do the abandoned Staffies go?


BUT hope is not lost - the Staffy still remains the Nanny dog. Despite all this mess, there remains more good Staffies than bad. Even badly trained Staffies can be saved (I know from experience). Ten years of media slander cannot undo generations of breeding that has produced a dog which is only one of two that the Kennel Club recommend for children. To Stop The Staffy Status Cycle we need to make these excellent examples heard. We need to tell our Staffy's story. We need to spread the message that the media are biased and that they are wrong - it is the owner who is to blame, not the breed!

Share this post. Share this video. Share your stories.

Twitter: #StopTheCycle

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWXgRvPy8ZY

Thank you for reading.

Dan
htp://twitter.com/natureclip
https://www.youtube.com/natureclip

Before I fostered, before I learned, I read the papers and was concerned. Then I met him and I knew, it's not the Staffy's fault, it was you NatureClip, June 2012

Maybe this belong in "rant 'n' rave"

that made me so sad. I am so proud to have Pixee from the blue cross. She is such a good dog, people round by where I live, know she does not trust strangers and will bark at them, and they still try to make friends with her. Some she has accepted. They always say what a beauiful dog she is. Only last night on a late walk up the canal, we had to put her on the lead, cos of 5 dogs all off lead with a bloke, and he stopped to say how what a beaufiful girl she was, and to let her off the lead, he got no problem, he said dogs will sort themselves out. We explained it was her recall when she gets so excited. He said, dogs were the best thing since sliced bread. Bless him. I will be sharing this video footage.

Shields gazette today another child mauled by a staffordshire bull terrier!
its getting to be a weekly headline somewhere ,i think it wont be long till there is some kind of ban ,maybe like pitbulls, no more backstreet breeders and all dogs neutered and registered.Only KC registered dogs !

Very upsetting all round, for the victims in the paper this week and for the Staffy name. You could go on forever trying to pin exactly where the fault lies or what caused these dogs to do what they did. I would fight tooth and nail to keep Heston if they every decided to make Staffy X breeds illegal, I have waited 4 years to have a dog and I couldn't imagine life without him.
Banning a breed will only make the situation worse, and create an even bigger criminal senario. Owning a dog is a big responsibility and personally believe you should have to achieve a qualification to become a registered dog owner. All this rubbish about 'human rights' and 'freedom' is a tiny price to pay to own a dog, especially if you have nothing to hide.

harlou wrote:Shields gazette today another child mauled by a staffordshire bull terrier!
its getting to be a weekly headline somewhere ,i think it wont be long till there is some kind of ban ,maybe like pitbulls, no more backstreet breeders and all dogs neutered and registered.Only KC registered dogs !

Thankfully, I don't think there will be a breed ban. The government have admitted that they screwed up with the pitbull ban (although they've done nothing to change it!!), so I don't think they will try it again, especially not with a dog as popular as the staffy. I do think though, that within a matter of a few years, muzzling, and keeping the dogs on lead at all times will become compulsory. That will be a very sad day for our beloved, innocent dogs

I am all for licensing dog owners and breeders - that would be much easier to enforce than banning specific breeds. Also, with micro-chipping it would be digital records. Police could scan a dog quite easily.

i think the press are full of mis-information , they dont care about what they report on as long as it makes a good story... people need to stop looking at the dogs for blame and start looking at the other end of the lead as in the owner!!
my old boy couldnt bite the skin of a rice pudding let alone attack anyone...

i've had worse bites from my cats than i ever had from any dog , does that mean i fear all cats... no it dosent..

What a great video, thank you for sharing!

Great vid and a message well put, have shared a YT link on my FB accounts.

Thanks for sharing. Makes me so mad how breeds are discriminated against.