Breed bans under scrutiny: why more and more regions are abolishing these regulations

On 26 June 2000, a six-year-old boy named Volkan Kaya died in Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg from injuries sustained in a dog attack. Two dogs, an American Staffordshire Terrier and a Bull Terrier mix, had attacked him on a school playground. The aftermath of this incident shocked Germany. Within months, the federal government and states introduced breed-specific legislation. What began as an immediate reaction to a tragedy became the 25-year history of so-called breed bans: ordinances that classify certain dog breeds as dangerous across the board and impose requirements.

Today, 25 years later, a second wave is beginning, one of gradual abolition. Scientific studies show that a dog’s behaviour depends more on socialisation, keeping and training than on breed. Several German states have revised or abolished their breed bans. Others are sticking with them. This article sorts out which regulations apply where and what arguments underpin the debate.

How breed bans work

A breed ban is an official list of dog breeds classified as potentially dangerous by ordinance. The consequences for owners vary regionally but typically include some or all of the following: requirement for permission from the local municipality, temperament test, proof of owner competence, liability insurance with higher coverage limits, leash and muzzle requirements in public, and in some states also bans on keeping newly acquired dogs.

The lists differ not only in the breeds included but also in their nature. Some states work with “irrefutably dangerous” (keeping only with special permission), others with “presumed dangerous” (temperament test as a way out of the regulatory regime). Others simply impose control or reporting obligations without a blanket ban.

Which list applies where: status in the DACH region

Germany

Responsibility for dog keeping lies with the states. This means: 16 different regulations with partly significantly differing lists. Brandenburg abolished its breed ban on 1 July 2024; with the new Dog Owner Ordinance, there are no longer any breed-based requirements there. Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein took similar steps earlier.

Berlin, however, has not abolished its breed ban, contrary to what is often reported. The Dog Act that came into force in 2016 reformed the categories but retains three breeds classified as “dangerous” across the board: Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier and Bull Terrier. Hamburg, Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia continue to maintain substantial breed bans with varying requirements.

Anyone moving between states with a dog of a listed breed should check the regulations of the new municipality before moving. What is legal in Brandenburg can trigger a ban on keeping in Bavaria.

Austria

In Austria too, dog keeping is a matter for the states, resulting in nine different regulatory frameworks. Only three states maintain an official breed ban: Vienna, Lower Austria and Vorarlberg. The other six states – Burgenland, Carinthia, Upper Austria, Salzburg, Styria and Tyrol – do without blanket breed classification. Burgenland even dispenses with requirements for dog keeping altogether: muzzle or leash obligations are only imposed in individual cases if an official veterinarian classifies a dog as problematic.

Vienna has the strictest regulations. Anyone keeping a restricted breed must pass the Vienna dog handler examination within three months of getting a dog, otherwise they face a ban on keeping the animal. The current list can be viewed at oesterreich.gv.at. Lower Austria requires notification to the municipality of residence for every restricted breed and mandates a muzzle and leash requirement in public places for listed dogs as well as those classified as “notable”: in parks, on public transport, in schools, stairwells, and on playgrounds.

Styria and Tyrol work with individual risk assessment instead of a breed list. The focus is on proof of expertise, which must be provided before buying a dog in Styria, while in Tyrol it varies depending on the municipality. Anyone moving from a state with a breed list to one without is exempt from the breed regulation but assumes the local requirement for proof of expertise. Check the ordinance of your new place of residence before moving; it is available on the respective state website.

Switzerland

In Switzerland, there is no nationwide breed list; a national initiative to standardise regulations was rejected by parliament. Instead, 13 of the 26 cantons and half-cantons maintain their own lists, which sometimes differ significantly from one another. The other 13 do not have a breed list and rely on individual risk assessment. Anyone moving with a restricted breed across cantonal borders is not only changing ordinances but may also move from a permit-based regime to a prohibition regime.

The strictest regulations are enforced by four cantons that ban keeping the American Pit Bull Terrier: Valais, Geneva, Zurich, and Fribourg. Ticino has the longest list in Switzerland with around 30 listed breeds and thus the strictest regime across the board. In the canton of Aargau, a permit is required for six breeds plus mixed-breed dogs with corresponding appearance: American Staffordshire Terrier, Bull Terrier and American Bull Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Pit Bull Terrier and American Pit Bull Terrier, American Bully, and Rottweiler (§ 11 HuV/AG). Eligibility to keep a dog requires being of legal age, having no relevant criminal record, proof of kynological expertise, and liability insurance with coverage of at least one million francs.

Bern, Graubünden, and other cantons operate without a breed list but require temperament tests and proof of expertise in specific cases. A consolidated overview of cantonal regulations is maintained by the Federal Office for Food Safety and Veterinary Affairs (BLV) and the guide from FOUR PAWS Switzerland. Since cantons revise their lists every few years—Aargau last did so in 2012, others periodically—the following applies before every purchase or move: check the legal portal of your canton of residence directly, do not rely on secondary sources.

What science says about breed lists

The line of argument against blanket breed lists comes from several directions. Veterinary and behavioural research shows that aggressive behaviour in dogs is more closely linked to socialisation, training, and the individual situation of the animal than to the breed. A large Dutch bite statistics study concluded that the majority of reported bites come from dogs outside the listed breeds, simply because these are much more common in the dog population.

Proponents counter that certain breeds are more dangerous in escalation situations due to their physical characteristics (bite force, pain threshold, prey drive), not because they bite more often, but because they cause more severe injuries when they do. This argument also has an empirical basis. The debate revolves around the question: is a blanket breed regulation sufficient, or is individual risk assessment (dog handler certificate, temperament test, proof of expertise) the better tool? The recent reforms in Brandenburg, Lower Saxony, and Schleswig-Holstein follow the latter logic.

What you should practically do as an owner

Before buying a dog that might be on a breed list, take three steps. First: review the applicable ordinance of your place of residence at state or cantonal level. What applied two years ago may be different today. Second: clarify which proofs you must provide. Proof of expertise, dog handler certificate, temperament test—the requirements vary greatly. Third: contact the competent authority (veterinary office, regulatory office, city police department) before buying. Proceed safely before buying a puppy, not afterwards.

Anyone wishing to take in a restricted breed from animal welfare should additionally note that many animal welfare organisations do not place restricted breeds in states or cantons with strict regulations. And: what is recorded in the animal shelter as a “mixed-breed dog of unknown origin” may be classified by the authority upon registration as a listed breed if the phenotype matches. This is legally tricky and, in case of dispute, ends up in court, with the keeping of the dog at stake.

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