Banning pit bulls is absurd step

Re: “Quebec plans to eventually ban pit bulls” (Montreal Gazette, April 14) The Quebec government wants to ban pit bulls and other “dangerous” dogs and has tabled Bill 128. This comes in the wake of Montreal’s pit bull ban, which was enacted after Christiane Vadnais was mauled to death in her backyard last year by a dog.

Meanwhile, on average, a dozen women are killed by their spouses in Quebec every year (I’m not counting women who are raped, beaten, molested, harassed and otherwise terrorized by men who aren’t their spouses). Women are being killed, mostly by the two-legged variety of dangerous animal, in their own homes, while law enforcement and the judicial system do relatively little.

Daphné Huard-Boudreault was killed last month. She had asked police to protect her from her ex-boyfriend because she felt that she was in imminent danger, and they failed her. Her alleged killer is in jail, but how many abusive men are free to come and go, free to stalk their victims, free to disregard court orders?

Quebec doesn’t consider incarcerating every man who has been accused of assault of any kind, because that would simply not make sense. We don’t punish an entire gender based on the actions of a handful of men, as dangerous as those men are.

As tragic as Vadnais’ death is, it is absurd to punish an entire breed of dogs and their responsible owners based on that one terrible event.

Personally, I would rather take my chances with a pit bull any day than with a man with a history of violent behaviour toward women. Danette MacKay, Montreal