AG concludes pit bulls dangerous

Fort St. John, British Columbia -- Michael Bryant convinced after public hearings

Four days of public hearings into Ontario's proposed ban on pit bull dogs have left Attorney General Michael Bryant more convinced than ever that the breed is "inherently dangerous" and should be eliminated.

"Testimony from victims was riveting and inspiring," Bryant said Thursday after testifying before a legislative committee. "I don't want to have in Ontario one more victim at the hands and teeth of a pit bull."

Bryant used his appearance before the committee to dismiss arguments put forward by opponents of the proposed legislation, which would ban pit bulls but allow current owners to keep their dogs as long as they are spayed or neutered and muzzled in public.

He said reasonable people can argue over whether it's nature or nurture that leads to pit bull attacks, but concluded it doesn't matter to victims.

"Pit bulls are inherently dangerous, and that no matter what the nurture, they pose too great a risk to public safety," Bryant said.

He also dismissed claims by dog lovers that banning only pit bulls would be ineffective in stopping dog attacks, saying nothing could be more effective than eliminating the breed.

"Less pit bull attacks means less people victimized by pit bulls; that is effective," Bryant said. "You over time eliminate the dog that is causing the bite, and over time you will eliminate the bite."

Bryant also questioned the claim by animal rights activists that banning pit bulls is inhumane, saying he wanted "to turn that argument on its head."

He said if Ontario doesn't ban the breed, there would be a disproportionately high number of pit bulls at humane societies and dog pounds.

"(They would be) living their life out in these shelters, or being put down because they're unadoptable," Bryant told the committee. "Where is the humanity in that?"

Bryant had increased security when he appeared at the committee, and he admitted he's received threats since proposing the pit bull ban, but he refused to elaborate.

"I'm not worried about people who want to intimidate me," he said. "It's just not working."

The Conservatives and New Democrats told the committee that a breed-specific ban will not work, and won't address the problem of irresponsible dog owners.

"I would bet that if your child was bit, it wouldn't matter to you what breed it was," Conservative Joe Tascona said. "We need to strengthen the Dog Owners' Liability Act to promote responsible dog ownership and punish irresponsible owners."

NDP house leader Peter Kormos agreed, and said a pit bull ban would provide no comfort to a child mauled by a vicious dog of another breed.

Kormos said the proposed legislation is problematic because it lacks a clear definition of a pit bull, and warned that court time would be wasted debating which dogs fall under the provincewide ban.

"It's as much a colloquial term as anything else, especially as compared to a breed," he said.

Toronto police Chief Julian Fantino told the committee he supports the ban because his officers are regularly confronted by pit bulls that must be shot.

"And even at that, there's multiple shots that have to be fired," Fantino said. "In reality, they have been trained to attack and are being actively used as weapons."