Welcome Back to SPARCS + 2018 Conference
You may have noticed that the SPARCS Initiative is now maintained by National Canine Research Council. ...
What type of dog is that? Can you tell just by looking?
When a dog’s pedigree is unknown, how do people typically talk about its ancestry? In special circumstances DNA testing is performed, but in day-to-day life, at shelters, rescues, veterinary offices, dog parks, and in our homes, we primarily rely on guess ...
How to Use National Canine Research Council's Website
National Canine Research Council is happy to announce our new website, complete with both familiar & new research and resources. Included in the change is an evolution into a canine behavior science and policy think tank. ...
Breed-Specific Legislation is myth-based and ineffective according to the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (AVSAB)
AVSAB, a national association of veterinarians who are board-certified in the specialty of animal behavior, has just released a position statement expressing their opposition to breed-specific legislation. Their position paper notes that they are "co ...
New Edition of "Dog Bites: Problems and Solutions"
Some aspects of the dog bite situation have changed since the first writing of this paper for the Animals and Society Institute in 2006. More current statistical information about dog bite incidence is available. More is now known that both documents and ...
Breed-specific legislation on the decline
Breed-Specific Legislation on the Decline: 5 more states no longer allow BSL & more than 7x as many U.S. Municipalities repealed or rejected proposed BSL, than enacted it between: January 2012 – May 2014. The national trend is moving steadily away f ...
Breed-specific legislation in Australia: a cruel mandate imposes big costs
The City of Monash has spent almost $100,000 defending itself in court cases involving dogs targeted by the breed-specific provisions of Australia’s Domestic Animals Act. Cardinia, a suburb of Melbourne, spent $80,000 on a single case involving a dog that ...
Maryland General Assembly Says No to Dog Owner Discrimination, Passes Effective Breed Neutral Liability
On April 3, 2014, the Maryland House of Delegates gave final approval to breed neutral dog bite liability legislation that would abrogate the 2012 Court of Appeals ruling in Tracey v. Solesky, which imposed “breed”-specific liability on dog owners, custod ...
South Dakota and Utah to be the 17th and 18th states to preempt breed-specific legislation.
South Dakota has passed a bill to protect pets and people by preventing local governments from enacting legislation that regulates dog ownership based on a dog's breed or breed mix. Governor Dennis Daugaard signed the bill on March 14, 2014 [1]. The ...
Obama Administration opposes breed specific legislation (BSL)
In an unprecedented initiative, the White House released a statement announcing that the Obama Administration does not support breed-specific legislation (BSL). The statement was a response to an anti-BSL petition created in December 2012, which quickly g ...