The controversy over the possession of dogs with possible lethal danger is growing, as a result of the death last Monday of Trinidad, a 15-year-old girl attacked in Córdoba by two Argentine bulldogs who escaped from a house in the Estación Flores neighborhood that after attacking the victim on the street, they entered a house where a man defended his children with knives and killed them.
In statements to Página/12, Celeste Ávila -–dog rescuer and president of the Garra Foundation in Córdoba– said that the chain of responsibilities for this tragedy is long: it goes from the kennel to the owner of the animals: “The origin of the problem is in the hatcheries that, for commercial reasons, cross breeds that are dangerous when they fall into the hands of irresponsible people who provide us with tools to socialize. and have all their freedoms guaranteed so that they do not constitute a danger. I understand that the owner of the white bulldogs has fields in Catamarca and took them there to hunt pumas. As protectionists, we are against farms that also violate the Law on Animal Abuse. We believe that these Potentially Dangerous Dogs (PPP) should be neutered at birth, but there is no law that requires that.”
The genetic factor
For Celeste Ávila, the PPPs have on the one hand, a genetic factor: the dogo argentino is a breed used to hunt wild boar with a very large jaw. strong. Consider that when an animal reacts violently, a very high percentage of the cause has to do with genetics, which has also been manipulated and thus empower them physically to do certain activities. “The other 40 percent of the causality has to do with the type of breeding,” says the animal conservationist: “if there is a very strong genetic instinct, it is unlikely that it will be extremely docile. That is why the way in which they are raised and educated is so important. If he lives in a yard without socializing with people and other animals, he will be less docile. Good upbringing implies respecting their freedoms as well, such as the right to walk and a good quality of life, such as not living outdoors or tied up. They are not objects of defense or alarm, but subjects of rights”.
canine legislation
Córdoba has Provincial Law 9685 that regulates the possession of PPP dogs and establishes a maximum penalty for owners, in the face of potential damage from their pets, of five days in prison. According to Avila, “the law is far below the reality of the danger; he speaks darkly of dogs, but grief is a joke; establishes that they cannot circulate loose and that they must wear a muzzle. But the State does not control compliance. We demand that the government regulate the hatcheries; the PPPs cannot be extinguished from one day to the next; that is going to be very difficult. But it does start a regulation and force everyone to leave the kennel neutered and that the buyer is obliged to take out insurance against third parties. In addition, it must have for life, a trainer who is specialized in PPP. The kennel should register each puppy as the law dictates and when selling it, he must transfer ownership to the purchased one so that it is always registered and there is a history. There are dogs that may have genetic defects, such as chronic pain, which makes them more aggressive. This also has to be controlled with permanent studies. This has to do with the crosses made by certain breeders, which have aberrational results”.
Background Solutions
From the Garra Foundation – which rescues dogs and then looks for a family to adopt them – they say that “protectionism is very saddened by the death of the girl” and demand that the State be present. Ávila evaluates that “in society there is a paradigm shift regarding the ownership and care of animals, and the point to focus on is the irresponsibility of the owner, because the animal is a consequence of human action. Hopefully this man receives an exemplary sentence and that the State begins to legislate and control. We are very tired of rescuing aggressive animals that no longer have the possibility of being reinserted due to the terrible upbringing they had, due to the damage they did to them. Many are bred as fighting animals. But they are sentient animals with rights. The fact is that as a society, we are not prepared to have this kind of dog and we already have too many tragic cases, we cannot have them on the market like any other breed, because their owners do not meet the necessary requirements and conditions. The first step is to close the kennels, then castrate them in a painless way and register those that remain so that the State can keep track of each one of the cases until they are extinguished.
