Nicole Watkins Persuasive Speech Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience to petition against Maryland’s law to identify “Pit Bulls” as a dangerous breed of dog. Six months ago, almost to the day, my best friend and her new puppy were attacked. She was dog sitting her grandmother’s Mastiff, whom at the time had no previous violent history. She kept the Mastiff and her puppy in separate rooms in order to make sure there were no problems, but that wasn’t enough. One day, out of nowhere, the Mastiff broke down the door separating them and went on a full-fledged attack toward the puppy. My friend tried to make it out of the door of the house, but to no avail. The Mastiff bit her by the arm and dragged her to the ground forcing the puppy …show more content…
Let’s start by looking at the Maryland law itself Maryland has laws on both rulings against just Pit Bulls and the concept of ‘dangerous dogs’. First we will focus primarily on Maryland’s law against Pit Bulls. Aaron C. Davis, a reporter for the Washington Post, states that “Maryland’s highest court ruled in March [of 2012] that pit bulls…are more dangerous than other breeds” (Davis). Even the media today is biased against Pit Bulls based on the immensely smaller number of media articles reported on non-Pit Bulls versus Pit Bulls. The ASPCA, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, shows that a “quantitative study by the National Canine Research Council of dog-bite reportage in a four-day period proves that anti-pit bull bias in the media is more than just a theory—it’s a fact” (ASPCA). Under Maryland law as well, there are specific rulings on what deems a dog as a ‘dangerous dog’. Stated in West’s Annotated Code of Maryland, “‘Dangerous dog’ means a dog that: (i) Without provocation has killed or inflicted severe injury on a person” (West). This could relay onto any breed of dog depending on the situation and environment. Because of the Maryland law on Pit Bulls, many Maryland families are facing distress. The law now holds both the owner and landlords accountable for just the one specific breed of dog creating complications for many families and many animal shelters. Families are being torn apart under this new law causing them to have to make .
