Montreal Gazette

BARKING UP THE WRONG TREE

Dog bylaw has no merit: opposition

- LINDA GYULAI lgyulai@postmedia.com twitter.com/ CityHallRe­port

The opposition at city hall is calling on Mayor Denis Coderre to withdraw a controvers­ial animalcont­rol bylaw that would ban the acquisitio­n of pit bull-type dogs and require criminal background checks to allow owners to keep such dogs if they already have them.

The bylaw, which is to be presented to city council for final approval on Monday, is intended to phase out pit bull-type dogs on city territory and has sparked demonstrat­ions by defenders of those dogs ever since the Coderre administra­tion announced its intentions in August. A group of lawyers is also threatenin­g to sue the city over the ban if it’s passed next week.

On Wednesday, Projet Montréal denounced the proposed bylaw, which also sets new restrictio­ns on all other types of dogs and other animals, as “slapdash, moreover unworkable.”

The party is calling on Coderre to consult experts and rework the proposed regulation­s.

Banning specific breeds isn’t the way to reduce the number of incidents of people being attacked and bitten by dogs, Projet Montréal councillor and official opposition leader Luc Ferrandez said. Instead, the Coderre administra­tion should attack what Ferrandez called the “real problem” — a lack of enforcemen­t of the city’s existing animalcont­rol bylaw, which already requires owners to acquire a permit for any type of dog and to leash their dogs outdoors.

The city lacks resources — notably inspectors — to enforce the existing regulation­s, he said.

However, Coderre said the city will move ahead with the new bylaw, which he defended as “well thought out.”

“We chose people’s safety,” Coderre said at the end of the public portion of the weekly city executive committee meeting on Wednesday.

The regulation­s will make the public feel safer, he said, while respecting those who already have pit bull-type dogs that haven’t been a problem.

“Those who already have a pit bull will be able to keep them, but will have to respect conditions,” Coderre said.

To keep their dogs, the bylaw would require current owners of pit bull-type dogs to apply for a special ownership permit before Dec. 31, 2016.

Permit applicants would have to be at least 18 years old and would have to provide documentat­ion proving they don’t have a criminal record. As well, they would have to prove the dog has been sterilized, has a microchip implanted and has its rabies shots. They would also have to keep the dog on a short leash.

The bylaw defines the targeted breeds as American Staffordsh­ire terriers, Staffordsh­ire bull terriers and American pit bull terriers, as well as any mixed breed dogs that have a part of those breeds and dogs with similar physical characteri­stics.

It’s the bylaw’s reference to mixed breeds and “dogs that have several morphologi­cal characteri­stics” of the banned breeds that has many dog owners confused and worried, Christine Gosselin, a Projet Montréal borough councillor in Plateau-Mont-Royal, said.

“For years we’ve been encouragin­g people to rescue pets at animal shelters,” she said. “Well, abandoned dogs don’t come with a pedigree. A lot of them are a mix. Yet it’s the owners who will have the burden to demonstrat­e that their dog isn’t a pit bull.”

What’s more, the bylaw doesn’t define what physical characteri­stics will determine whether a dog is similar to a pit bull and doesn’t say who will make that determinat­ion, Gosselin said.

The bylaw also sets strict conditions for owners of all other types of dogs and other animals. Among them: By Dec. 31, 2019, all dogs in the city will have to have a microchip embedded and be sterilized. Montrealer­s will be permitted a maximum of two dogs per household. A special permit will be required to have three dogs, and none of them can be a pit bull. Moreover, the bylaw permits no more than four animals of any kind per household. Only owners who live in a duplex or house will be able to apply for a special permit to have three dogs. Anyone living in a triplex or a larger multi-unit building will not be able to have more than two dogs. Dogs that weigh more than 20 kilograms will have to wear a harness along with a leash. Montrealer­s will not be permitted to walk more than two dogs at a time, unless a person has a special permit to have three dogs. Someone whose work involves walking dogs will require a special walker permit to take out more than two dogs.

The bylaw also lists a number of things that constitute a public nuisance that is punishable by a fine, including allowing an animal — not specifical­ly a dog — to be errant and allowing an animal to wander without permission onto private property.

Gosselin said the way the bylaw is written, the owner of a cat that wanders into a neighbour’s yard could face a fine. She also wonders if owners will have to leash their cats under the bylaw, she said.

Fines for individual­s violating the bylaw will range from $300 to $600 for a first offence, go up to $1,200 for a second offence and up to $2,000 for each additional offence. There are stiffer fines for violating specific sections of the bylaw.

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 ?? DARIO AYALA/FILES ?? Pet owners take part in a protest in July against legislatio­n to restrict pit bull-type dogs in Montreal. The bylaw is to be presented to city council for final approval on Monday.
DARIO AYALA/FILES Pet owners take part in a protest in July against legislatio­n to restrict pit bull-type dogs in Montreal. The bylaw is to be presented to city council for final approval on Monday.

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