Dillon Beach is one of my favorite hang outs with the dogs. It’s a privately-owned beach just outside of Tomales. The dogs can be off leash there. The best part of the beach is it is so large of an area, that dog to dog conflicts have been rare, in my personal experience.
Today’s trek to the beach though came with a touch of sadness. Right next to the kiosk was a sign that said, “No Pit Bulls Allowed.” The sign was new. It was the first time I had seen it and I am a regular there.
“What happened to prompt that sign?” I asked the clerk in the kiosk.
She smiled weakly and said she was not at liberty to say.
“Sounds then, like you had a fight.”
Again, she smiled weakly but offered up no information.
Dang it.
That means my friend who has a sweet, adorable, lovely dog-loving pit bull cannot come to Dillon Beach. That means another friend who has a pit/lab mix cannot come to the beach either. Well the pit side of the dog can’t, but the lab side apparently can. It’s the lab side that spends the entire time at the beach ignoring other dogs and chasing down tennis balls tossed into the waves.
I find it pretty hard to believe that the person sitting in the kiosk is going to know the difference between an American Pit Bull, a Bull Terrier or an American Staffordshire. You’d be amazed at how many people think my friend who has Boxers think they are Pit Bulls.
Breed specific bans are always such a slippery slope because not all dogs of one breed are alike.
Perhaps a smarter approach might have been to ban that particular pit bull involved in that particular incident. In fact, ban any particular dog involved in fights. I can mention a few border collie mixes who consistently chase down my littlest dog. I know which dogs they are and keep a very wide berth.
But banning an entire breed is so much easier. That keeps places from having to deal with the people behind the dog. And really, isn’t that what this is all about? Trying to get people to take responsibility for the actions of their dog?
If pit bulls are banned, the less than ideal owners will simply move on to another type of dog to show how tough they are. And those dogs too, will go to the beach.
