Well here’s a new twist.   Usually we see mastiffs being mistaken for so-called pit bulls and then consequently a pit bull ban is called for even though it was really a mastiff that did the attacking.   In Hot Springs Village, Arkansas, Hans Kappen’s wife was mauled to death by a Bull Mastiff on Nov. 21, 2013, and yet Kappen is calling for restrictions for pit bulls in addition to restrictions for mastiffs.  

The Bull Mastiff mauled Kappen’s wife because it was not restrained by a leash or a fence, which is not illegal in Saline County where Hot Springs Village is. According to Fox 16 news in Little Rock,

Police say the dog wasn’t supervised when a family member left it out of the home Thursday morning.

Something Kappen says should be against the law, especially for certain breeds like bullmastiffs and pit bulls

So, you’d think a victim or advocates would be calling for a leash and/or containment law since containment, not breed, was the real issue in the fatal mauling.  

And Mr. Kappen is calling for a leash law, but he also had the poise enough, a mere day after his wife’s fatal dog mauling, to call for a breed-specific law (BSL) restricting mastiffs and so-called pit bulls.   Nope, nothing strange there.   Because everyone who loses a spouse has the presence of mind a mere 24 hours later  to issue a well thought out statement to the press outlining legislation they believe will prevent such a tragedy from every happening again.  

As it is well known by now, breed-specific legislation in any form does not keep communities safer.   In fact, as Denver and Miami-Dade Counties have shown, dog bite incidences have actually increased in areas where breed-specific legislation has been passed because Animal Control wastes time trying to enforce the unenforceable BSL while irresponsible owners, who will continue to be irresponsible no matter what breed of dog they own, will slip through the cracks.