(CA) Attorney-General calls for debate on banning pit bulls

[Barry Kent MacKay]

From The Globe and Mail:


Attorney-General calls for debate on banning pit bulls


By KATHERINE HARDING AND INGRID PERITZ
Wednesday, September 1, 2004 - Page A11

Attorney-General Michael Bryant has launched a public debate about whether
Ontario should become the first province or state in North America to ban
pit bull dogs.

"We ban dangerous chemicals. We ban dangerous weapons. If pit bulls are the
equivalent of an assault rifle, which is what we are consulting on, then
surely we have to do everything we can to prevent them from causing harm,"
Mr. Bryant said in an interview yesterday.

He wants the public debate -- informal talks with municipalities, citizens
and animal experts -- to wrap up by December at the latest, and he has also
invited people to contact his office to "let their voice be heard on this
issue."

Concern about pit bulls was revived on the weekend when a 25-year-old
Toronto man was seriously injured by two dogs that he was walking. Police
have said he could have been killed if they hadn't shot the dogs dead. It
took 16 bullets to end the attack, they said.

Ontario's Municipal Act allows municipalities the right to ban dog breeds,
but only two, Kitchener and Waterloo, have done so. However, several local
governments, including Chatham-Kent, are working on rules to regulate such
dogs.

Mr. Bryant said a provincewide ban could help end the "patchwork approach"
of bylaws, which have created "pit bull havens in pockets of the province."
In the interim, he recommends that municipalities go ahead with the bans.

Asked if he anticipated any legal challenges to a provincewide pit bull ban,

Mr. Bryant said he would be "interested to hear the argument to the rights
of pit bulls to do whatever they want."

Toronto Mayor David Miller applauded Mr. Bryant's efforts as the "right
direction to go."

"I think this kind of thing would be helpful if there was provincewide
legislation," he said. In the meantime, the chairman of the city's public
health board has asked officials to tighten city rules on aggressive dogs.

A growing number of Canadian cities have been seeking ways to control
dangerous dogs or ban them outright.

Several communities have passed bylaws that target specific breeds, usually
pit bulls or Rottweilers. Winnipeg was the first major city to pass a bylaw
banning pit bulls, in 1991. Today, laws are on the books in cities across
Canada, including Moosomin, Sask., Sherbrooke, Que., and Guysborough, N.S.

Tim Dack, who runs the animal services agency for the City of Winnipeg, said

dog attacks have dropped to an average one or two a year. So far this year,
there have been none. In 1989, before the law came into effect, the city
recorded nearly 30 attacks.

"The bylaw has done what it was supposed to do. It's reduced pit bull
attacks to just about nothing," Mr. Dack said.

In 1988, Saskatchewan enacted "dangerous dog" legislation stipulating that
owners face jail time or stiff fines when their dogs are involved in
unprovoked attacks. However, that legislation is enforced on a local level.

Dozens of jurisdictions across the United States have laws targeting
specific breeds. But Betsy McFarland of the Humane Society of the United
States said she's aware of no statewide bans. She said some jurisdictions
are repealing laws because they're either impossible to enforce or
ineffective. When one dog breed is banned, owners often switch to another.

Pit bulls by the rules

Generally, municipalities that have enacted a dangerous or vicious dog bylaw

require that dogs deemed dangerous be muzzled and kept on a leash when off
their owner's property and enclosed (inside a house or in a pen) when on
property.

A few examples of bans:

Saskatchewan

Provincewide

The whole province is covered by the dangerous dog legislation. Sentencing
is stiffest there, with a $10,000 fine and/or six months imprisonment for
any of the following:

n A dog that has attacked, bitten, injured or killed without provocation.

n Owner not respecting court orders for keeping

a dangerous dog.

n Dog owned for the purpose of fighting or encouraging a dog to make
unprovoked attacks on people or domestic animals.

Manitoba

Winnipeg

Banned pit bulls in 1990.

Ontario

Kitchener and Waterloo

Both communities have dangerous dog bylaws and have banned pit bulls. To ban

a type of dog, they needed to have a bill passed in the Ontario legislature.

Ban does not include bull terrier or English bull terrier.

Quebec

Sherbrooke, Saint-Jean-sur-

Richilieu, Lachine, Kirkland, Outremont, Saint Genevieve

These communities have all banned pit bulls. In addition, Sherbrooke has
controls on rottweilers and mastiffs.

Alberta

Edmonton

Community has enacted a vicious dog bylaw and restriction on pit bulls.
Licence fees and fines for these dogs are higher, and owners must take out
liability insurance.

SOURCE: CBC

_________
Ban these beasts (Letters to the Editor)


By MICHELE PISA
Wednesday, September 1, 2004 - Page A16

Hamilton, Ont. -- I heartily agree with your recommendations about severe
restrictions on pit bulls' freedom of movement and, indeed, on their
breeding (Let's Ban Pit Bulls -- editorial, Aug. 31).

These dogs have proved time and again to be extremely dangerous. If violent
people are secured behind bars, why should pit bulls be given ample
opportunity to maim people?

Politicians should clean up their act and immediately take decisive action
against this menace.
______

Ban these beasts


By JEAN-ANNE MOORS
Wednesday, September 1, 2004 - Page A16


Whitby, Ont. -- Banning pit bulls will not solve the "aggressive dog"
problem in Toronto or Ontario. Higher fines and penalties, including jail
sentences, for individuals who knowingly incite or condone aggressive
behaviour in dogs (no matter what breed) would be a deterrent.

Dogs with uncontrollable aggression should be euthanized. The Toronto Humane

Society does a disservice to the community by insisting that even the most
aggressive dog can be rehabilitated.

It is easy to say "enough" and ban the breed, but pit bulls will be easily
replaced by a different "aggressive" breed. There will also be lengthy
determinations as to what is a pit bull. In Germany, only too recently, a
ban on pit bulls resulted in an indiscriminate cull that slaughtered many
beloved family pets when the real targets were dogs owned by individuals who

used them as weapons in neighbourhood wars.

The onus is on the owner to control his or her dog and, when necessary, on
society to effectively stop criminally negligent animal ownership.

________
Ban these beasts


By ROB BAUER
Wednesday, September 1, 2004 - Page A16

Toronto -- Pit-bull owners should be held accountable for the damage caused
by their dogs. The best way to do that would be to require the owners to
carry insurance to cover the potential medical costs associated with the
injuries their dogs can cause. That would create responsible pit-bull owners

overnight.


___________________________

Barry Kent MacKay
Canadian Representative
Animal Protection Institute
www.api4animals.org