Hyperflite Weighs in on Breed Bans

(ATLANTA, OCTOBER 1, 2006) Hyperflite, Inc., manufacturer of the world’s toughest canine competition flying discs for dogs, stands with pet owners in opposition to breed bans applied by state and municipal governments against particular canine breeds.

In recent years, attacks by canines on humans have received increased media coverage. A few of these high-profile cases have involved canines that were either bulldog breeds or mixed-bulldog breeds. Pit bull canines have received particularly bad press in no small part because of their reputation as a fighting breed. In a number of instances, ordinances have been enacted or proposed that would ban certain bulldog breeds from metropolitan areas or localities.

Because of the difficulties associated with determining a dog’s breed with certainty, enforcement of a breed-specific ordinance would be difficult if not impossible.

Further, it is our opinion that breed bans may well serve to increase the popularity of banned breeds with the very people who are responsible for creating the situations that give rise to attacks in the first place.

History has shown that aggressive canines are not a breed-specific problem. At least 25 different breeds have been associated with canine-related fatalities since these statistics have been kept. Any canine breed and canines of all sizes can bite a human if provoked or if encouraged to engage in aggressive behavior by owners.

Each year, an average of 18 people in the United States die from dog bites. This number has not increased in more than 30 years. According to the National Safety Council (www.nsc.org), the odds that any one person will be killed by a canine are one in 9,000,000. You are more likely to die by lightning strike (one in six million) or by legal execution (one in 4,850,000), than you are from a dog attack.

Based upon our many years of experience with active canines of all breeds, which includes judging these canines as they participate in vigorous activity in proximity to other canines and people, we can state with certainty, that bulldog breeds and mixed-bulldog breeds are no more likely to engage in behavior that would cause injury than any other breed. In fact, several Canine disc World Champions have been bulldogs, or pit bull mixes. These dogs are, unequivocally, wonderful dogs.

As a society we choose to live with guns, trains, cars, boats, planes, motorcycles, bicycles, ladders, bathtubs, electrical appliances, furniture and an endless list of things that individually cause far more deaths than pet canines. Arguably, with reflection, legislators could find less burdensome alternatives to breed bans to more effectively protect the public.

Since the majority of dog bite victims are children, Hyperflite believes that it is vital that children become more informed about dog behavior and learn the proper steps to take if approached by an aggressive canine. Education efforts, (which have been very effective in reducing aviation and boating fatalities and injuries), rather than difficult-to-enforce breed bans, would, arguably, yield better results.

Hyperflite is committed to developing the safest, best-flying, and most durable canine discs in the world. Its support of the Skyhoundz Canine Disc World Championship series, the largest disc-dog series in the world, as well as the Hyperflite DiscDogathon Competition Series and other canine disc events in the U.S. and other countries ensures that disc dog competitors world-wide will have exciting venues in which to compete. For more information about Hyperflite products or to find out about the Hyperflite Skyhoundz World Canine Disc Championship Series, please visit the Hyperflite website at www.hyperflite.com.

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Hyperflite, the Hyperflite logo, K-10, Competition Standard, and Jawz are trademarks or registered trademarks of Hyperflite, Inc. Skyhoundz is a registered trademark of PRB & Associates.

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