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BSL
reaches Rio
DOG
OWNERS of certain breeds are going to need a hefty insurance
policy as well as a lead when they take their dogs for a walk
in Rio de Janeiro, thanks to the City’s introduction of
Breed Specific Legislation (BSL).
The Brazilian city’s mayor Cesar Maia issued a decree requiring
the owners of Pit Bulls and other “potentially dangerous
dogs” to carry insurance policies of at least 100,000 reals
(£30,000) to compensate the victims of attacks.
The decree also requires owners of the dogs to be older than
18 years of age, have no record of violent crimes and to prove
they have the physical and mental aptitude to control the dogs.
“The measure, based on successful experiments abroad, is
part of a series of actions aimed at alerting the owners and
defending the population from these dogs,” reads the preamble
to the decree.
It is believed that Maia’s administration copied parts
of Germany’s draconian ‘Fighting Dog’ laws wholesale,
in order to be seen to be ‘doing something’ about
a spate of dog attacks in poorer areas of the city, although
many dog owners are angry that their breeds have been deemed
to be ‘dangerous’
The other dogs covered by the decree are: Rottweilers, Dobermanns,
Bull terriers and, surprisingly, the Fila Brasiliero. The choice
of a native Brazilian breed on the List of targeted breeds is
unusual, as many other nations have slavishly avoided including
their own national breeds, as in the case of Germany and the
German Shepherd Dog.
Dog owners who do not comply with the law will be subject to
fines ranging from 200 reals (£60) to 2,000 reals (£600).
Pit Bull attacks are a fairly common occurrence in Rio, where
the dogs are a favourite companion of members of a violent subculture
of Jiujitsu practitioners known as ‘Pit Boys’.
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