Montreal suspends pit bull ban, new bylaw on way

Pit bulls are once again allowed in Montreal as the Projet Montreal administration follows through with an election promise to do away with the controversial bylaw that banned them.

Coun. Craig Sauve, the executive committee member in charge of animal services, said Wednesday the ban will be suspended, as will several specific sections of the city’s animal control bylaw pertaining to the breed such as mandatory muzzling and special permits.

“The pit bull-style dog will no longer be considered a dangerous breed in Montreal,” Sauve said. “We’ll have a global approach that includes all dogs and I believe it’s the right approach for Montreal.”

A new bylaw will be introduced in the first half of 2018 after extensive consultation.

All current dangerous dog provisions for animals that bite remain intact, minus the elements of breedspecific legislation which “discriminate against owners who have been good owners,” he said.

Sauve said the city will consult scientific and animal-behaviour experts as well as dog-owners and people who don’t have dogs.

Projet Montreal has said the breed-specific nature of the previous bylaw was based on bad science and that it would proceed with a more humane one focusing on dogowners and education.

Ex-mayor Denis Coderre’s administration passed the controversial bylaw in 2016 after a Montreal woman was mauled to death in her backyard by a neighbour’s dog.

Coderre’s party, which is now called Mouvement Montreal, said it is “disappointed” with the suspension of the bylaw.