Deal saves 18 Ontario pit bulls from death

Eighteen alleged fighting dogs that were facing a potential death sentence in Ontario will be sent to the U.S. for rehabilitation after a months-long negotiation to save their lives.

A Chatham, Ont., court has ordered three people accused of running a dogfighting ring to surrender ownership of the banned pit bulls to the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which has been holding the animals since seizing them in October 2015.

The court further ordered the OSPCA — which had applied to destroy the dogs — to send the animals to a special facility called Dogs Playing for Life in Florida.

The Crown attorney, the OSPCA and the dogs’ three owners reached an agreement on a solution for the dogs in court last Thursday, lawyers for those involved said.

Dog Tales, an opulent dog rescue and horse sanctuary north of Toronto, played a crucial role in the negotiations by pledging to pay for the care and transport of the dogs.

“I am super excited — it has been a long battle and I’m very happy that these dogs are getting this chance,” said Rob Scheinberg, who owns Dog Tales along with his wife, Danielle Eden.

Scheinberg said he fought hard for the dogs because he owned a pit bull for 17 years and is against Ontario’s breed-specific legislation that bans them.

It has been a lengthy legal journey for the dogs.

In the fall of 2015, police and OSPCA agents raided a compound in Tilbury, Ont., and seized 31 dogs — all pit bulls.

Three of those dogs were immediately euthanized and the remaining 28 underwent a behavioural evaluation by the American SPCA, which said 21 were deemed a menace and could not be rehabilitated.

The OSPCA, however, had to apply to court to have the dogs destroyed, which led to a public outcry.

Three animal organizations lined up to intervene in the OSPCA’s application, with two — Dog Tales and Animal Justice, an animal rights organization — going to court to argue the dogs needed their own defence.

In February, Dog Tales launched a publicity campaign, called #savethe21, which featured celebrity endorsements from Richard Branson, Enrique Iglesias and Paris Hilton, pleading with the OSPCA and the Crown to save the dogs.

A second behavioural assessment became a turning point in the case, according to Marley, Dog Tales and the OSPCA.

“That second assessment has shown some slight improvement as a direct result of our daily care and some promise to go to rehabilitation,” said Jennifer Bluhm, deputy chief of the OSPCA.

Scheinberg said he will drive the dogs down to Florida himself in a modified bus.

“I think for most of them the future is a good one,” he said.