Despite the fact that October is halfway over, I still wanted to discuss how important this month is. For the past few years, October has been designated as National Pit Bull Awareness Month. Pit bulls are a group of dogs which our media shamefully portrays poorly more often than not. I’ll be honest, as someone who was scared of dogs growing up, pit bulls, or any large dogs, scared me a little bit. But now I’d rather rough house with a “bully breed” than try to pet a lap dog any day of the week. Guess which ones I’ve gotten more nips from?
Anyways, at roughly this time last year, I received my copy of Beyond the Myth, an amazing documentary about breed specific legislation (BSL), which to be honest, was eye opening for me. (Don’t hold me to the specific release date, but I know it was somewhere in September or October 2012.) Unfortunately, Denver has some of the most stringent BSL seen anywhere. While BSL can only impact “pit bull” type dogs, (which isn’t an actual breed, but represents several breeds or even a combination of other breeds that result in similar physical characteristics), many cities have BSL that expand to other breeds. Sounds crazy, right? Check out this list of the 75 most prohibited/restricted breeds for a real eye opener. Number 14 and 15 on the list, Australian Cattle Dog (like Diggs) and Australian Shepherd (like Shep, my parents’ dog). Let’s be honest, isn’t Shep the most ferocious dog you’ve ever seen?
Now to the good stuff. In honor of National Pit Bull Awareness Month, Hulu is showing Beyond the Myth for free. Even better, you can watch it below. So any of the pesky inconveniences that might have stopped you from watching it before should be out of the way, right? Just as a warning, make sure you have a box of tissues nearby. The stories that some of these families share will absolutely break your heart.
Let me know what you think in the comments below, of either Beyond the Myth specifically or BSL generally. I’d love to hear your thoughts, because BSL isn’t limited to whichever breed the media deems “scary”, it can impact any of our dogs.
Our Four Legged Family 
