Jenya
10-15-2004, 02:44 PM
'Pit Bulls - Banned,' Ontario Says
Current owners may keep pets but they must be leashed, muzzled, neutered or spayed, legislation will say
CANADIAN PRESS (http://www.cp.org/)
October 15, 2004
Outrage over a spate of vicious pit bull attacks across Ontario this summer has prompted the province to ban the breed with a bad reputation.
"Pit bulls - banned," Attorney General Michael Bryant said today as he announced that legislation would be introduced within a month, the first such provincial law in Canada.
"We are banning pit bulls in Ontario."
If passed, the proposed legislation would allow current owners of the fierce, squat dogs to keep their pets, but they will face ``severe restrictions."
"They will be muzzled, they must be leashed and they must be neutered or spayed," Bryant said.
Under the new law, fines would double to $10,000 and jail sentences of up to six months would be allowed for irresponsible owners of all dog breeds.
The move follows several months of informal meetings between Bryant and groups on either side of the pit bull debate.
Bryant said he's heard enough to be convinced the dogs are ``ticking time bombs" and "inherently dangerous animals."
"For every family that tells me their pit bull is a pussycat, I'd like to introduce them to the family in Sudbury who regretted that judgment," Bryant said during an impassioned speech.
"I'd like to introduce people who say pit bulls are like any other dog to the mother in Etobicoke who was playing in her backyard with her kids and her pet only to have the neighbouring pit bull knock her fence over and the 150-pound beast charged her kids."
A number of serious attacks in the province prompted Bryant's consultations, including one "that horrified Ontarians" when two dogs severely mauled a Toronto man.
The man was "practically eaten alive from the ankles up," Bryant said.
"Police officers had to use more than a dozen bullets to put these pit bulls down. These are dangerous animals - enough is enough," he said.
"We cannot have these animals walking the streets, the fields or the family rooms of Ontario."
Louise Ellis, whose now 15-year-old daughter Lauren still bears the scars where she was bitten in the face by a pit bull when she was five, said banning the dogs is the only way to ensure they can't attack more people.
"It's the right thing do," she said.
The legislation would make it easier for animal control officials and police to obtain a warrant to enter premises where a dangerous dog has been reported, Bryant said.
Liz White, director of Animal Alliance, said all dangerous dogs should be dealt with, not just pit bulls.
White questioned how the ban and restrictions on the pit bull breed will be enforced, suggesting it just won't work.
"I think this is really just a bad piece of legislation," she said. "I think it could be fixed up by taking the pit bull ban out and just dealing with dangerous animals."
A large number of dogs that pose a threat to public safety are those used by criminals as protection, not family pets, White said.
"To ban every single pit bull is not the way to go."
White said it's also difficult to determine exactly what constitutes a pit bull, since it's a crossbreed. She fears that innocent animals will be turned in to animal shelters and will have to be euthanized.
Bryant denied that will happen. He said he believes most pit bull owners don't want to give up their dogs and that hasn't been the experience in other jurisdictions that have implemented a ban.
In Ontario, a number of municipalities, including Kitchener and Windsor, have banned pit bulls. Winnipeg also has a ban on the breed.
Bryant said similar bans are in place in France, Britain and Germany.
SOURCE: Toronto Star (http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1097833556419&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154)
Current owners may keep pets but they must be leashed, muzzled, neutered or spayed, legislation will say
CANADIAN PRESS (http://www.cp.org/)
October 15, 2004
Outrage over a spate of vicious pit bull attacks across Ontario this summer has prompted the province to ban the breed with a bad reputation.
"Pit bulls - banned," Attorney General Michael Bryant said today as he announced that legislation would be introduced within a month, the first such provincial law in Canada.
"We are banning pit bulls in Ontario."
If passed, the proposed legislation would allow current owners of the fierce, squat dogs to keep their pets, but they will face ``severe restrictions."
"They will be muzzled, they must be leashed and they must be neutered or spayed," Bryant said.
Under the new law, fines would double to $10,000 and jail sentences of up to six months would be allowed for irresponsible owners of all dog breeds.
The move follows several months of informal meetings between Bryant and groups on either side of the pit bull debate.
Bryant said he's heard enough to be convinced the dogs are ``ticking time bombs" and "inherently dangerous animals."
"For every family that tells me their pit bull is a pussycat, I'd like to introduce them to the family in Sudbury who regretted that judgment," Bryant said during an impassioned speech.
"I'd like to introduce people who say pit bulls are like any other dog to the mother in Etobicoke who was playing in her backyard with her kids and her pet only to have the neighbouring pit bull knock her fence over and the 150-pound beast charged her kids."
A number of serious attacks in the province prompted Bryant's consultations, including one "that horrified Ontarians" when two dogs severely mauled a Toronto man.
The man was "practically eaten alive from the ankles up," Bryant said.
"Police officers had to use more than a dozen bullets to put these pit bulls down. These are dangerous animals - enough is enough," he said.
"We cannot have these animals walking the streets, the fields or the family rooms of Ontario."
Louise Ellis, whose now 15-year-old daughter Lauren still bears the scars where she was bitten in the face by a pit bull when she was five, said banning the dogs is the only way to ensure they can't attack more people.
"It's the right thing do," she said.
The legislation would make it easier for animal control officials and police to obtain a warrant to enter premises where a dangerous dog has been reported, Bryant said.
Liz White, director of Animal Alliance, said all dangerous dogs should be dealt with, not just pit bulls.
White questioned how the ban and restrictions on the pit bull breed will be enforced, suggesting it just won't work.
"I think this is really just a bad piece of legislation," she said. "I think it could be fixed up by taking the pit bull ban out and just dealing with dangerous animals."
A large number of dogs that pose a threat to public safety are those used by criminals as protection, not family pets, White said.
"To ban every single pit bull is not the way to go."
White said it's also difficult to determine exactly what constitutes a pit bull, since it's a crossbreed. She fears that innocent animals will be turned in to animal shelters and will have to be euthanized.
Bryant denied that will happen. He said he believes most pit bull owners don't want to give up their dogs and that hasn't been the experience in other jurisdictions that have implemented a ban.
In Ontario, a number of municipalities, including Kitchener and Windsor, have banned pit bulls. Winnipeg also has a ban on the breed.
Bryant said similar bans are in place in France, Britain and Germany.
SOURCE: Toronto Star (http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1097833556419&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154)