Ontario Liberal Attorney General Chris Bentley answers election survey

The Bentley Family with their Springer Spaniel

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to your questions on this important topic.

On April 29, 1998, Courtney Trempe died when she was bitten on the neck by a bullmastiff while playing at a friend’s house in Stouffville.  Ontario’s Coroner held an inquest and the jury made 35 recommendations, in particular, that the reliance on municipal bylaws was inadequate to safeguard the public from dangerous dogs.

On October 26, 2003, an 11-year-old girl suffered serious injuries after she was attacked by two of her grandmother’s Dogue de Bordeaux dogs in Uxbridge.  The girl had over 150 puncture wounds, extensive nerve damage, and her leg had been chewed to the bone. 

On August 28, 2004, a 25-year-old Toronto man was seriously injured after he was mauled by pit bulls he was walking for a friend.  The man was rescued by the police, who shot the dogs.

These incidents, and others like them, convinced us that provincial action was necessary to protect the public from dangerous pit bulls.

The Public Safety Related to Dogs Statute Law Amendment Act (formerly Bill 132) is now law and the government has implemented the legislation. That legislation bans pit bulls and toughens penalties for the owners of any dog that poses a danger to the public.

We are committed to building safe, strong communities and to protecting Ontarians. We passed this legislation to respond to the concerns of Ontarians about their personal safety, and we stand behind this law. We heard loud and clear that Ontarians want to be protected from pit bulls. We have established strict regulations for existing pit bulls, making owners more responsible and helping make Ontario communities safer.

Not only did we protect Ontarians from vicious pit bulls, but we also protected them from irresponsible owners of any dangerous dogs. The legislation that we passed also increase fines up to a maximum of $10,000 and allow jail sentences up to six months for owners whose dogs are involved in an attack ($60,000 fines for corporations were also passed).

We believe this law will help protect not only Ontarians, but also many Ontario dogs that might otherwise themselves become the victims of pit bull attacks. We have set high standards for responsible dog ownership in the province of Ontario, and we are proud of our record.

Per your request, I have included a photo of my family and I with our dog, Clover.  I have attached the answers to your questions below.  Thank you again for the opportunity to respond.

Sincerely,

Chris Bentley

Liberal Candidate – London West

1.  If the amended Dog Owners' Liability Act (2005) came up today for a free rather than a whipped vote as happened in 2005, would you vote in favour of banning breeds as an effective way to protect people from dog bites?  Please explain.

Yes, we would, but only in respect of pit bulls. We have no plans to expand the Dog Owner’s Liability Act to ban other dangerous breeds.

Vigorous regulation of irresponsible owners is an important part of protecting the public from dog bites. That is why the legislation that we passed increases fines up to a maximum of $10,000 and allows jail sentences up to six months for owners whose dogs are involved in an attack.

However, incidents like those described above pose an unacceptable level of risk to Ontarians. We heard loud and clear that Ontarians want to be protected from the menace of pit bulls.We passed a ban on pit bulls to respond to the concerns of Ontarians about their personal safety, and we proudly stand behind that law.

2. Please tell our readers why you think the 'pit bull' ban enacted by the McGuinty government has or has not been successful in protecting the public from dog bites.

Our legislation bans pit bulls and toughens penalties for the owners of any dog that poses a danger to the public.  It also requires that pit bulls be muzzled in public. These measures protect the public from bites from these dangerous dogs.

3. Would you be willing, if elected, to work to rescind Ontario's amended Dog Owners' Liability Act (2005) and replace it with an existing, easily implemented  Canadian system that has been effective in the control of negligent pet owners, that is supported by all responsible pet owners and that once established is fully funded by dog and cat owners rather than through general revenue taxation?  Please briefly explain your response.

  

No. We passed a ban on pit bulls to respond to the concerns of Ontarians about their personal safety, and we proudly stand behind that law.

4. How important to you is the issue of amending Ontario's animal cruelty legislation, the Ontario SPCA Act, using a scale of 1 to 10 (where 1 is 'not at all important' and 10 is 'extremely important')?

Very important. That is why the McGuinty government increased annual funding for the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Ontario SPCA) to $500,000 annually to support inspector and agent training and provided $100,000 in one-time funding for Ontario SPCA agents to work with the Ministry of Natural Resources to implement an interim zoo inspection plan.

A future Liberal government will modernize the Ontario Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals Act to regulate premises such as roadside zoos, make cruelty to animals a provincial offence and ensure there are serious consequences for people who abuse animals.

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OK, I'm really trying to be professional and objective and everything when posting these surveys but I can't hold back any longer.

These people are just plain crazy.  There, I said it and I'm glad.

I might get around to commenting on this later, after my anti-sarcasm medication takes effect.

I'm sure your comments will be more entertaining and incisive than mine, so let 'er rip, Dick!