Province of Ontario Considers a Breed Ban

[Shenanigans]

As you know, there was a Pit Bull attack in London a few weeks ago. There has been another attack in Toronto, and the person might lose their arm and leg because of it. That said, this person was the dog's caretakers while their owner is still not present. Apparently the owner is not the most responsible or nicest person in the world. The caretaker might or might not have had one of the pit bulls in a headlock when the attack occured, but in the end, the man was seriously injured and both dogs killed by police. So needless to say, breed specific legislation is back on the table at our city, but now the province is considering it, which is pretty damned horrific, soooo, we need lots of pens to paper the email address of the attourney general is in the artcle, he wants to hear how people think, so let him know!

http://tinyurl.com/3lhj8

Background Articles

http://tinyurl.com/5fnh8

http://tinyurl.com/3ulfv

http://tinyurl.com/4tzkt

http://tinyurl.com/5eqe9

[Smooshie]

I'll be writing as soon as I'm off work :-?

[Guest Anonymous]

Crossposted from another site...write to this person. Micheal Bryant.


mbryant.mpp@liberal.ola.org
Queen's Park
Ministry of the Attorney General
720 Bay St, 11th Flr
Toronto ON M5G 2K1
Tel / T

[eric]

Can I ask something really stupid? Exactly what is a pit bull? Is there such a thing as a "pit bull", or is a bunch of breeds that fall under the same description.

When I picture a pit bull, I think of Spuds Mackenzie, or Don Cherry's dog, Blue.

[Smooshie]

"Pitbull" is a blanket term for any pit type breed...APBT, SBT, AmStaff, American Bulldog, English Bull Terrier (although they seem to have escaped some of the stigma), also anything that even looks remotely like it *might* be crossed with a Pit falls under this generalization. Most people wouldn't recognize a *true* pitbull if they tripped over it :-? Case in point...my male boxer (pictured below left) is often mistaken for a "Pitbull".

[imported_Kat]

Wow I really am surprised to hear that EBT and SBT breeds come under the term of pitbull. That really is wrong classification. In N.Ireland SBT's are extremely popular and make wonderful family pets. Pitbulls are banned and have been banned for years but I shudder to think if SBT's were banned. It really is time for someone to do research and show what a pitbull is to differentiate it from other breeds. I know that in USA and Canada the breed is suffering a lot but if these other breeds that are clearly not pitbulls, are also wrongly labelled then more and more breeds will inevitably suffer.

[Smooshie]

It is sad Kat, but over here it seems like the rule is"if it looks like a Pit...then it MUST be a Pit" problem being that most people have no clue what a Pitbull looks like :-?

Like I said above, EBT seem to have escaped much of the BSL ,but there are still the ignorant people that would and will lump them in. Their only saving grace is the widespread popularity of the pop culture icons like "Spuds McKenzie" and Don Cherry's EBT "Blue".

[DogPaddle]

I think there is a very visable difference between EBT and a classicly bred SBT and the North American breeds - AST and the APBT, I do have great difficulty between the AST and APBT though. The look the same to me but the AST is registered with AKC and the APBT is not. Most sites I've been to indicate that the temperment of EBT and SBT differs from AST and APBT as well. In fact one site gave SBT a 3/5 for getting along with other dogs, it gave the AST a 1/5.
If they do go through with bans I do hope they allow, grandfathering etc. and that they do their research.

[eric]

Out of curiousity, what breed was Spuds Mckenzie and Blue?


[quote name='Smooshie']It is sad Kat, but over here it seems like the rule is"if it looks like a Pit...then it MUST be a Pit" problem being that most people have no clue what a Pitbull looks like :-?

Like I said above, EBT seem to have escaped much of the BSL ,but there are still the ignorant people that would and will lump them in. Their only saving grace is the widespread popularity of the pop culture icons like "Spuds McKenzie" and Don Cherry's EBT "Blue".

[Smooshie]

eric napisał(a):

Out of curiousity, what breed was Spuds Mckenzie and Blue?

English Bull Terrier

[Smooshie]

Just for fun...and I know this has been posted before, but in the wake of all this BSL, I thought it was relevant:

Find the Pitbull...

http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/findpit.html

[Smooshie]

Got my form letter back from Michael Bryant's office today...

Thank you for your e-mail regarding a province-wide ban of pit bulls in
Ontario.

The McGuinty government is concerned about community safety, in particular
the danger pit bulls pose to people and their pets. Letters and media
reports about pit bull attacks have raised questions about whether the
province should consider banning these dogs.

Some legal protections are already in place. Municipalities already can ban
pit bulls under the Municipal Act. For example, the City of Kitchener has a
bylaw prohibiting residents from owning pit bulls.

In addition, a victim of a dog attack can sue the owner, and owners of dogs
that attack individuals may be prosecuted under the Dog Owners' Liability
Act.

The McGuinty government wants to know if further steps should be taken to
keep our communities safe. That's why I've asked my Ministry officials to
look into this issue, in particular whether a province-wide ban of pit bulls
should be put in place. As you know, I want to hear the views of Ontarians.
Please be assured that your views will be taken into consideration in our
review of this important matter.

Thank you for your input on this issue.


Michael Bryant
Attorney General of Ontario
Minister Responsible for Native Affairs
Minister Responsible for Democratic Renewal

[DogPaddle]

It's a form letter.

I got the same one.