Ontario's Pit Bull Ban Begins
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Pit bull owners remain defiant as a pit bull ban comes into effect across Ontario today -- the first such province-wide ban in Canada.
Pit bull owners now have 60 days to get their animals spayed or neutered, and must muzzle and leash them in public.
People will not be able to own, breed, import, transfer or purchase pit bulls, although they can still adopt them for a limited time.
Those violating the rules can end up with their pets seized and euthanized, while they could face finds of up to $10,000 or even jail time.
However animal advocates fear hundreds of adult and puppy pit bulls may now be euthanized and candlelight vigils were held across Canada Sunday night to protest Ontario's new law.
Jessica Peacock, of the American Staffordshire Terrier Club of Canada, said many of the problems associated with pit bulls were the fault of their owners.
"Banning an entire breed is not going to solve the problem of responsible dog ownership," she told CTV's Canada AM.
Peacock said she was concerned about owners who might not understand the consequences of the new legislation.
"They could have their dogs taken away from them and destroyed," she added.
In announcing a constitutional challenge to the ban, lawyer Clayton Ruby called the law "too vague" and "overly broad."
He says there is no evidence pitbulls are more dangerous than other breeds.
"A number of experts will say ... that there is no scientific basis to conclude that pitbulls are any more dangerous than any other dog," Ruby said at a news conference Monday.
He says the legislation lists a number of breeds that are "substantially similar" to pit bulls.
"The legislation captures dogs that are a problem, but also a large number "that are not part of the problem.. that is a huge number of dogs," he added.
But postal worker Darlene Wagner, who was attacked by one of the powerful animals, is happy the new law is finally here.
"It's been a long time coming and it will make me feel safer on the streets when I'm out there," she told CTV News.
Ontario's legislature passed the law in late March, but delayed implementation to help municipalities adjust. There will be a 60-day grace period, to Oct. 28.
Registered purebreds will be exempt from sterilization as long as they continue to participate in authorized dog shows.
But puppies born after Nov. 27 must be shipped out of the province, given to a research facility or destroyed.
The legislation also calls for a crackdown on any dog that bites, attacks or is a menace to public safety.
The new law comes after of a series of vicious attacks in the summer of 2004.
"I am convinced that pit bulls are ticking time bombs. I am convinced that they are inherently dangerous animals," Attorney General Michael Bryant said in announcing the legislation last fall.
While walking his friend's two pit bulls a year ago, a 25-year-old Toronto man found himself under attack by both dogs.
Bystanders tried beating the dogs with sticks, but that didn't help. Police had to shoot the animals numerous times each. The animals kept up the attack until they were dead.
But despite such horror stories, pit bull fans say the Ontario government's ban is too broad.
"Does anyone know that Helen Keller's companion dog was an American pit bull terrier?" asked Janet Chernin of the Dog Legislation Council of Canada.
The Ontario ban covers dogs that even look like Staffordshire terriers or American pit bull terriers.
Chernin claimed in a meeting with Bryant, he couldn't pick out a pit bull from a number of different photographs of similar-looking dogs.
In Nova Scotia, dog trainer Bob Ottenbrite asked rhetorically: "Why are some children good and some children bad? It goes back to home." Bad owners are a bigger problem, he said.
At the Toronto Humane Society, a spokesman said the government has made a mistake if it thinks the law will stop dog bites.
"What is so dangerous for the public is they think they can approach any dog, mishandle any dog that isn't a pit bull and they won't be bitten, and that's not going to be the case," said Tim Trow.
msn.ca
What a sad sad day. :(
