BULL TERRIER TIMES COMPILATION

"Kristelnacht" For German Bull Terrier Breeds

OWNERS OF Bull breeds of dog in Germany were literally fearing for their safety and their dogs’ lives last weekend as the Regional and Federal Governments enacted emergency ‘dangerous dogs’ laws after two dogs - alleged to be an American Pit Bull Terrier and an American Staffordshire Bull Terrier attacked and killed a six year-old schoolboy. As reported previously in OUR DOGS, the regional States assemblies in Germany had been enacting draconian dog control legislation after a series of well publicised - and massively hyped - dog attacks over the previous few months.

In a sinister echo of the circumstances leading up to the introduction of the UK’s Dangerous Dogs Act, the German media launched into frenzy against so-called ‘fighting breeds’ when an 86 year-old woman was killed by a Rottweiler in April of this year. The German Home Secretary himself launched a campaign to ban all ‘fighting breeds’, a cry taken up by the media. Gregor Von Dungen, President of the Gesellschaft der Bullterrier-Freunde (Society of Bull Terrier Friends) told OUR DOGS at the time; “Every day there are terrible stories about ‘fighting dogs’ in our newspapers. On television the other night, a politician was on raging about the dogs and a dog breeder tried to explain about dog behaviour only for the politician to turn to him and say ‘I am not interested in scientific explanations; I want these dogs banned.’ How can you have a rational argument over attitudes like that?” “The media want sensation and blood. The bite of a Pit Bull is of more interest than the bite of a Labrador.

In May, a Labrador killed a man, only a small report in the newspaper. A Pit Bull killed a poor Yorkshire Terrier, big headlines. “I can only see this situation getting worse and spreading across Continental Europe. Right now, the situation looks hopeless and we need all the support and help we can get to fight this legislation and the lies perpetrated against these dogs.”

Sadly, these were to prove prophetic words. On Monday, June 26th, a six-year-old boy was attacked by two dogs in the playground of a Hamburg school as he and his classmates were walking to a swimming lesson. Their owner, a 23-year-old-man, accompanied the animals believed to be a Turkish immigrant and a 19-year-old woman when a witness said the dogs, later identified as a Pit Bull and an Am Staff broke away and jumped over a school fence. The Pit Bull immediately went for the boy’s throat and the other dog snapped at him.

The dogs’ owner and two passers-by attempted to get them off the boy before police arrived, and shot both dogs dead. The children who witnessed the shocking scenes were treated for shock, police said. After being treated for minor injuries, both the owner and the woman were arrested for not using a leash and muzzle on the pit bull. It later transpired that the Pit Bull had attacked three other dogs in April and had been ordered leashed and muzzled in public. The other dog also had no leash or muzzle.

One witness told police the Pit Bull had taken part in dog- fights for bets. In the wake of the attack, Hamburg’s mayor, Ortwin Runde, has demanded a ban on breeding and ownership of attack dogs, saying: “These dogs are quite obviously weapons,’” By Wednesday, Hamburg became the first state with the new anti-dog legislation: Pitbulls, Am Staffs, Staffordshire Bull Terriers and Bull Terriers were effectively outlawed. Under the new law, it’s forbidden to buy or exchange the listed breeds. They have to be registered, castrated, and muzzled and leashed in public. No importation or breeding of the dogs is allowed. Dogs that are aggressive, will put down. The other German States have begun to enact similar laws.

Gregor Von Dungen, obviously horrified by the incident told OUR DOGS earlier this week “Last Monday I had the worst day of the last 13 years. This day will make history as the doom for all bull and terrier breeds. A Pit Bull and an Am Staff killed a six-year-old pupil in a schoolyard. It was a horrible massacre. The dogs’ owner, a Turkish immigrant, did not have the dogs on leads, even though the Pit was ordered by police to be muzzled, because it had bitten before. We have since learned that the man was a gangster, convicted 17 times for robbery, grievous body harm and dog fighting. His neighbours called the police several times about his activities, because he trained his dogs for aggression and fights. The police did not react because they are afraid of the inhabitants of this district. So one can say, that those in administrative positions are also responsible for the poor boy’s death by their inaction.”

The attack story was broadcast by every television channel, and carried by every newspaper. Most vociferous about so-called “devil dogs” were newspapers in the Rainbow news group who called for the destruction and banning of all such breeds. Meanwhile, politicians from all parties appeared on TV denouncing all such dogs and calling for new legislation to control them. “ How could I find arguments now?” adds Von Dungen, “ The fight against the DDA was for nothing. The politicians reacted as fast as they had never done before. In interviews, they claimed the new orders. I’m afraid that no judge in Germany will decide for us in any legal challenges.” He continues, the pain and sorrow evident in his voice:

“The Bull and Terrier breed enthusiasts in Germany are absolutely destroyed. We mourn for the death of the boy, but everyone thinks we are murderers. “Every day since last Monday you see reports about the theme. The newspapers give an account every day about new laws. It is very confusing. The media even tell people to report “fighting dogs’ in their neighbourhood so they can go and confront the owners. “Dog owners are afraid of going on the street. People kick the dogs, insult the owners, throw rocks at them, and slash the tyres of cars which have stickers with heads of the discriminated dogs.” Von Dungen then relates a gruesome foretaste of the violence, which was to explode last weekend:

On Saturday a TV team visited our honorary show Manager Roger Koch. He told them about the persecution dog owners were facing. The TV team wanted to see the evidence. They went with their Bull Terriers through a local pedestrian area, the TV team following behind them with hidden cameras. Passers-by spat at them, then suddenly a man jumped out of a crowd, ran towards the dog took a knife and bellowed at Roger and his wife Andrea “Do you want to see how I slit the dog?” Other people rushed in and pulled him away. You could see the whole scene on TV the same evening. It’s a witchhunt, no less.”

Evidence of this witch-hunt came to the fore over the weekend. Heiki Brzezinski, a Bull Terrier breeder from Selm related how a crowd set upon a Bull Terrier and its owner in a Berlin street. Whilst the owner was beaten and held down, a crowd poured petrol over the dog and set fire to it, killing it. The same day, an Austrian woman who shows Bull Terriers was driving along the autobahn and pulled into a service station for a short break. When she returned to her car, four men wielding baseball bats confronted her. They pointed to the Bull Terrier stickers in her car and told her that she was a “child killer” and not wanted here with her devil dogs. The men smashed her car windows and headlights, and when she protested they clubbed her unconscious with the bats. No police action was taken.

“A Parson Jack Russell was kicked to death, just because it had long legs and patch over one eye,” says Brzezinski “The attackers told the dog’s owner that it looked like a Pit Bull and that’s all they needed to know.” In the UK, Bull Terrier breeder and judge John Branch, who has often appeared as an expert witness for the defence in cases under the Dangerous Dogs Act commented; “It’s horrendous. If we thought the DDA here was bad, this is ten times worse. I am personally not selling any dogs to Germany now and am advising all other breeders to do likewise The situation is too volatile. I think that dog people here, especially those in the Bull Breeds should give their total support to the German owners to fight these draconian laws. I would like to know what the Breed Clubs and our Kennel Club propose to do about it and bring pressure to bear.”

Phil Buckley of the Kennel Club said; “We have, in fact, moved very quickly on this issue, as it is of great concern to us. The Kennel Club’s Chief Executive, Roger French has written to the German Chancellor, Herr Shroeder and also to the President of the FCI on this matter “Roger French and our External Affairs Officer Caroline Kisko are this week meeting with officials of the FCI in Germany and this matter will no doubt be raised.”

Gregor Von Dungen concludes: “Now we have to react. We and the German Kennel Club - Verband f³r das Deutsche Hundewesen (VDH) - have engaged attorneys. We will see. We have had great support from the English Staff Bull people. Alec Waters arranged the support of vet Trevor Turner who wrote a submission, which exonerates our breeds. The Staff Bull breeders council sent letters to all Staff Bull clubs in the world and asked for support. We cannot thank you all enough for this. “ I have seen a copy from a letter the English Kennel Club sent to Bundeskanzler Schroeder. A rumour is in circulation they will have a meeting with him. We need more submissions or investigations to make it evident that Bull and Terrier breeds are normal dogs. “Up to now no shows had to be cancelled, but we reckon that after our club show next weekend the entrance will go down so we have to cancel future planned shows. The club show on Sunday is influenced by the situation. Maybe it will be our last big show ever. So it has the touch of a funeral. I am seriously thinking of leaving Germany!”

The whole scenario has grim echoes of Germany in the 1930s when the Jewish community were persecuted. Anybody suspected of being Semitic was attacked, their property destroyed. The culmination of this was the infamous “Kristelnacht” - the Night of the Broken Glass - when Nazi sympathisers ran amok hunting down anybody suspected of being a Jew. The situation now seem to be repeated, but with dogs and dog owners - especially Bull breeds - being the target.

An Englishwoman who shows dogs, living in Germany - but who declined to be named - said; “This is worse, far worse than the Dangerous Dogs Act in England in the 1990s. Yes, there is a lot of media hysteria about the dogs, but it’s the people out there on the streets who are attacking dogs and their owners. I will not take my dogs out now for fear of them being hurt. It’s a nightmare.”

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