ResearchIs breed-specific legislation justified? Study of the results of the temperament test of Lower Saxony
Introduction
On May 20th, 2000, a dog of pit bull type killed a 6-year-old child on a school playground in Hamburg. As a result, the authorities of Lower Saxony passed the Niedersaechsische Gefahrtierverordnung (GefTVO) on July 5th, 2000, to avert further danger. This law was created to regulate the keeping of certain breeds of dogs in Lower Saxony. At that time, the authorities assumed that these breeds of dogs represented a particular danger for the population. The law insinuated, without just cause, that particular breeds were especially dangerous and divided them into 2 categories.
Dogs listed in Category 1 were American Staffordshire terriers, bull terriers, and dogs of the pit bull type. Keeping as well as breeding dogs belonging to Category 1 was prohibited by the new law. A special permit for keeping dogs of these breeds could be given but only if, among other preconditions, the dogs passed a behavioral test in accordance with the guidelines set out by the Ministry of Nutrition, Agriculture, and Forestry (Niedersaechsisches Ministerium fuer Ernaehrung, Landwirtschaft und Forsten) of Lower Saxony.
Dogs belonging to Category 2 were listed as follows:
Doberman pinscher
Rottweiler
Staffordshire bull terrier
Bullmastiff
Dogo Argentino
Fila Brasiliero
Caucasian owtscharka
Mastiff
Mastino Espanol
Mastino Napoletano
Tosa inu
Mongrels with dam and/or sire belonging to one of the breeds listed above had to be kept on a leash and wear a muzzle. After successfully passing a temperament test, dogs in Category 2 could be exempted from both these restrictions. In contrast, such an exemption could not be given to a dog belonging to Category 1; even after passing a temperament test, dogs of Category 1 breeds had to be kept on a leash and muzzled when outside private property. No matter which category his dog belonged to, the owner had to prove his knowledge of behavior and ability to handle the dog.
In Lower Saxony the temperament tests are conducted by specially trained veterinarians to ensure that the examiners have the necessary medical as well as ethological knowledge to examine and pass a judgment on aggressive behavior in dogs. To be able to recognize and assess aggressive behavior in dogs, the examiner must have a thorough knowledge of canine body language and of the biology of aggressive behavior as well as the causes of and therapy for aggressive behavior in dogs. Furthermore, the examiner needs medical knowledge to enable them to recognize aggressive behavior caused by pathology. For this reason only veterinarians who have received special training in the field of behavior or veterinarians in cooperation with behavior counselors with appropriate training in the other areas of necessary expertise should carry out dog behavioral tests.
Since August 14th, 2000, the temperament tests mentioned above have been carried out at the Institute of Animal Welfare and Behavior (Pets, Laboratory Animals, and Horses) at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hanover, Germany. The temperament test is designed to detect dogs with distorted, aggressive signaling behavior (dogs with “unacceptable aggressive behavior”). This designation means missing escalation on the scale from 1 to 6 according to Feddersen-Petersen (2001) (Appendix 1) and apparent indications for aggressive behavior in inappropriate situations. In these cases, aggressive behavior does not reflect a form of adaptation but appears to be sudden, distorted/inappropriate, and abrupt. Dogs displaying disrupted aggressive signaling suffer and are a potential danger for others in their environment.
The data used for the survey presented in this paper come from these temperament tests. Analysis of the data was conducted to find answers to the following 2 questions:
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Does any evidence exist for a breed pre-disposition in the 5 breeds of dogs and in dogs of the pit bull type concerning disorders in aggressive behavior or aggressive behavior in inappropriate situations?
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Does a significant difference in behavior exist among these breeds?
Section snippets
Animals
Since the inception of the ruling, more than 1000 dogs have been tested according to the requirements of the GefTVO NMELF – Niedersächsisches Ministerium fuer Eernaerung and Forsten, 2000, NMELF, 2000 at the Institute of Animal Welfare and Behaviour (Pets, Laboratory Animals and Horses) of the University of Veterinary Medicine Hanover, Germany. This study was conducted between August 14th, 2000, and May 16th, 2001 and yielded data from 415 dogs and their owners (dog-owner teams) for statistical
Results
The results of this survey refer to a total number of 415 dogs. Of these dogs, 93 were American Staffordshire terriers, 38 were bull terriers, 63 were dogs of the pit bull type, 56 were Doberman pinschers, 97 were rottweilers, and 88 were Staffordshire bull terriers as shown in Figure 1.
The temperament test
As the results generally demonstrate, the temperament test was a convenient means to elicit aggressive behavior in dogs. Concerning the appropriateness of this test as a means of preventing biting incidents, it has to be considered that one can only make a statement on whether the dog displayed exceptional aggressive signaling or aggressive behavior in inappropriate situations in the situations tested, in a particular location, and at a particular point in time. Nevertheless, this does not rule
Conclusion
In this research project, 95% of the dogs tested displayed adequate and therefore appropriate behaviors. Considering this high percentage, it is debatable whether a temperament test, which is prescribed by law and which affects breeds of dogs perceived by lawmakers to be “dangerous,” will be appropriate in the future.
It is beyond controversy that dangers, hazards, and annoyances can emanate from dogs, no matter which breed they belong to (Podberseck, 1997, Feddersen-Petersen and Ohl, 1995,
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