Doyle the pitbull had a smile that would melt your heart. The characteristic square jaw of his breed would split into a grin, loose and lolling, as he enjoyed his favorite thing in the whole world — attention and affection from employees at the SSPCA location where he was being held in Lanarkshire, Scotland. He was described as adoring “every person and dog” he ever met, and the sentiment was returned — for 58 days, staff fell more and more in love with Doyle, and hoped beyond hope that he would get a chance at a permanent home. But instead, a completely unfair, painfully generalized law in the UK actually led to Doyle being killed — euthanized for no other reason than his breed.
Under the UK’s Dangerous Dog Act, American pit bulls, Japanese Tosas, Dogo Argentinos, and Fila Brasileiros are flagged as being supposedly and categorically “dangerous.” But we know that this is an antiquated idea — a dog’s ability to live and behave safely in society has everything to do with how it is trained and treated, and nothing to do with breed. Doyle could have been a wonderful pet to a loving family. Instead, this law needlessly, cruelly put him to death. Sign the petition and join the SSPCA in asking the British Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to change the Dangerous Dog Act to allow its “banned” dog breeds to be rehomed if they are suited to it!