St. Leonard eyes pit bull ban

Montreal, Quebec -- The borough of St. Leonard is considering breed-specific legislation to outlaw pit bull dogs.

A notice of motion for a bylaw banning the canines was filed at a Dec. 20 borough council meeting by councillor Dominic Perri.

The bylaw is to receive first reading this month. If adopted, the ban will be in place by the end of February or early March.

There are only two pit bulls out of 200 dogs registered in St. Leonard. There have been no attacks so far, Perri said.

"There was no incident, but from time to time parents come to us, worried about the safety of their children. That's what inspired this bylaw," Perri said.

"This is a preventive measure. An ounce of prevention is better than a ton of remedy."

Pit bulls, officially known as American pit bull terriers, have a reputation as fierce fighters who can turn on humans.

Responsible owners and breeders reject that claim, saying unscrupulous training and abuse are the root causes of most attacks.

"Banning pit bulls is a bad idea because it is simply a Band- Aid solution," said Mary Harwelik, a certified dog trainer from New Jersey.

"Pit bull attacks are a symptom; they are not the 'disease.' The disease is irresponsible ownership," added Harwelik, who owns two pit bulls.

Pierre Barnoti, director of the Montreal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, agrees.

"Banning pit bulls is not addressing the root of the problem. The problem is aggressive dogs of any kind," he said.

"People who want aggressive dogs will start importing other aggressive breeds.

"The problem is not the dog, it's on the other end of the leash - the owner," Barnoti added.

"Anywhere in Quebec you can rent a killer dog to guard your backyard or your car lot. Why don't we pass legislation to make it illegal to breed, own, train or rent aggressive dogs?"

Perri said defining and punishing dangerous and aggressive behaviour by dogs would be too difficult and it is not the borough's intention to outlaw all dogs.

St. Leonard's bylaw would make owning a pit bull or any dog bred with a pit bull illegal.

The borough could join Lachine and Montreal East in banning the breed.

Lachine adopted a ban on pit bulls in 1988. Borough spokesperson Monique Delisle said there have been no problems applying the bylaw, although there was a legal challenge.

Two owners of pit bulls took the former city to court, saying the bylaw impinged on the Canadian and Quebec charters of rights. In 1990 the Quebec Superior Court upheld the ban.

Montreal East banned pit bulls in 1992. Westmount looked into the legality of banning certain dog breeds after a rottweiler attack in 2000, but took no action.

Pierrefonds rescinded its pit bull ban in 2002 and amended it to cover any dog that is considered a threat to the safety of residents, regardless of breed.

Perri said St. Leonard has been closely following Ontario's lead, where a proposal has been made to ban the dogs province-wide. Under the proposal, no new pit bulls would be permitted; current owners would be able to keep their dogs, but the animals would have to be muzzled, leashed and neutered.

"If the government of Ontario has singled out pit bulls, there must be a reason. They have done their research," Perri said.

 

What??!! So instead of this, just ban the "pit bulls" which were stated to have not been involved in any bites.

Everyone is this area needs to start raising hell.

 

Ok By now you all know how I feel about this. This one takes the cake. There have been no attacks by "pitbulls" or bites by "pitbulls" but we want to ban them just in case . My Canadian Government is turn out be to sounding like the Natzi's and Hittler- Their are trying to ban Pitbulls , smokeing in cars with children, ect where will it end!



Email these People.

pm@pm.gc.ca Paul Martin Canadian Prime Minister

daulton.mcguinty@premier.gov.on.ca Daulton McGuinty Ontario's Premier

mbryant.mpp@liberal.ola.org Michael Bryant Ontario's Attorny General

720 Bay St. 11th floor

Toronto, Ontario , Canada

M5G 2K1 tel. 416-326-2220

that address is Michael Bryants office send him all your letters.



Also if you are interested in the public meetings coming soon contact this guy

Mr.Doug Arnott

Queens park, Room 1405 , Whitney Block

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

M7A 1A2 tel: 416-325-3506 or fax: 416-325-3505 or email him at:

douglas_arnott@ontla.ola.org

 

Truthfully, I have no problem against banning against dogs that have proven to be aggressive or vicious (i.e. one that has bitten before) or even the confiscation of people's dogs/animals who have picked up 2+ times by animal control for roaming at large. But to ban a breed on what it "could" do if it bit is f*****g ridiculous. A 100 lb lab "could" do a lot of damage to a person if it bites one. I should know, I have the scars on my left arm to remind me every day of a dog I'm still trying to force euthansia upon (it was out loose & it always is & I was out jogging when it rushed be & attacked. I put my arm out like a sleeve move & the dog just went to town while the owner just yelled at it from his driveway. i had to kick the dog in his kidneys several times before he let loose. the s.o.b. owner didn't even offer me help. however, my lawyer is on top of it )