B.C. needs registry of dangerous dogs: SPCA

VANCOUVER — The B.C. SPCA is calling attention to what it calls gaps in the province’s dangerous-dog legislation, and advocacy groups in the fiercely contentious debate are chomping at the bit to weigh in.

Geoff Urton, the SPCA’s senior manager of stakeholder relations, said that when it comes to oversight of B.C.’s dangerous dogs, “there’s a huge gap.”

“There should be a provincial registry of dangerous dogs,” Urton said.

“If you have a dog that’s deemed dangerous in Burnaby and you move to Richmond, what happens? Is there any communication between animal-control agencies in those two municipalities to make sure that dog maintains that status?

“I think some neighbouring municipalities do their best to collaborate on these things. But there’s no system in place.

“The gaps have been clear for a long time,” Urton said.

“It’s a conversation we would welcome having with the provincial government about closing some of those gaps.”

The SPCA has released a series of announcements and letters to government over the last two decades calling for a review of B.C.’s legislation, noting in a 2004 position statement that “successful models for dealing with canine aggression do exist in other jurisdictions.”

It’s an emotionally charged issue that prompts strong opinions.

Karen Stiewe, a leader of the advocacy group called “Not-So Dangerous Dogs of B.C.,” got involved in the cause after her dog Tali was impounded in 2011 after biting a jogger.

“The law should provide a balance between public safety and dog-owner rights. And right now it doesn’t,” said Stiewe, who believes current laws do not sufficiently protect the rights of pets and their owners.

“Our provincial legislation, compared to other provinces’, leaves far too much open to interpretation, and causes much confusion in the courts, and also causes cruelty to the animal that sits waiting for its court date,” she said.

Others, including victims of dog attacks, feel the legislative balance should be shifted further to the side of public safety.

Antonella Moscone said she “totally” disagrees with Stiewe, with whom she has debated the issue in the past.

Last June, Moscone was walking with her sister, Lucy Devita, and Devita’s cocker spaniel puppy, Mila, in Yaletown when a pit bull attacked Mila, snatched her from Moscone’s arms, and killed her.

According to a lawsuit filed last month by Devita and Moscone, naming the pit bull’s owners as defendants, the dog that attacked Mila had been seized by animal-control officials “only six weeks before the attack, because of a similar vicious attack on another small dog.”