Canadian city declares genocidal policy against targeted breed of family dogs

Tuesday, October 04, 2016 by: Vicki Batts
Tags: animal genocide, pit bulls, Montreal

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(NaturalNews) The Canadian city of Montreal passed a vote to ban the ownership of all "pit bull-type dogs" this past week, and outrage from dog-lovers across the world has certainly followed.

The ban somehow managed to pass by a 37–23 majority. Blacklisted News reports that the ban was proposed in response to the controversy caused by one, single dog attack.

"My duty as mayor of Montreal is making sure I am working for all Montrealers. And I am there to make sure they feel safe and that they are safe," stated Montreal's mayor, Denis Coderre. Supporters of the law insist that this somehow prioritizes human safety over dog safety. Meanwhile, the law's detractors say that this new law unfairly punishes innocent dogs and good dog owners. As The Huffington Post reports, "[T]hey say a combination of education, regulations and strict penalties for irresponsible owners is the best strategy to ensure public safety."

Montreal's breed specific legislation, or BSL, goes into effect on October 3, 2016.With the new law in effect, no new pit bull-type dogs will be allowed to enter the city, and none of the thousands of pit bulls in the city's shelters will be able to be adopted. Pit bull owners will have until December 31 to get a special permit from the city, otherwise their dogs too face euthanasia. That's right: The city has granted themselves the right to take your dog and kill it.

Fortunately, many people seem to agree that this BSL business is every bit as crazy as it sounds. Lawyer Julius Grey told CBC Montreal's Homerun, "I think it would be a shame if people allowed Montreal to get away with this. This is very serious. It's not an object, it's not the right to seize a car — it's a right to take a member of your family and that should not [be] permitted."

The list of dogs that will be banned includes Staffordshire bull terriers, American pit bull terriers and American Staffordshire terriers. Any mix with these breeds and any dog that presents characteristics of one of these breeds will also be subject to the scrutiny of Montreal's newly minted BSL. The latter criteria is of particular concern, since most people can't accurately identify dog breeds. For example, one of the events that prompted this legislation was the vicious dog attack that led to the death of 55-year-old Christiane Vadnais. Despite claims that the police classified him as a "pit bull-type dog," the dog's registration revealed that he was registered as a boxer. So, why are they banning pit bulls?

The SPCA of Montreal has said, "If the city of Montreal truly wanted to ensure public safety, it would not have forced a rushed adoption of controversial legislation which is unfair, unenforceable, and, most importantly, ineffective." The animal rescue organization has also threatened to end their dog-control services in response to the ban. Executive director, Benoit Tremblay, has also said, "We're not going to participate in euthanizing of thousands of healthy dogs. It's against our values.''

Director of Animal Advocacy, Alanna Devine, also commented that the dog involved in Ms. Vadnais' death had already previously bitten someone and sent them to the hospital. Ms. Devine adds that there was already legislation for those kinds of incidents, and "had it been enforced, that dog likely would have been seized and that tragedy would have been prevented." She also commented that perhaps the city of Montreal should have tried enforcing the legislation that was already in place before instigating BSL.

There are many reasons why BSL is an unjust practice. First and foremost, any dog can bite. A dog's individual history is far more important than its breed when it comes to issues such as this. Secondly, any dog could "look like a pit bull" to someone. Would you tell a person that because they looked a certain way they could not enter a city? No, you wouldn't.

More importantly though, cities and states are wasting money on BSL instead of targeting the actual problems, which are irresponsible dog ownership and animal abuse. How much good is BSL going to do when some other breed becomes popular?

Sources:

BlacklistedNews.com

Montreal.CTVNews.ca

HuffingtonPost.ca

CBC.ca

AVMA.org

Science.NaturalNews.com