7 year anniversary of Ontario's "pit bull" ban

This day commemorates the 7 year mark of Dalton McGuinty's draconian legislation that is commonly referred to as the "pit bull" ban. 

This ban kills dogs or sends them for research based on appearance as opposed to the behaviour of the dog. The 3 named purebred breeds are so rare in Ontario -less than 500 combined- therefore the targets (which number in the thousands) have been largely mix breed dogs of unknown lineage.

We have helped hundreds of people and witnessed many heartbreaking stories. We have lived this horror show for nearly a decade. We (Dog Legislation Council of Canada) raised 3/4 Million dollars (of which we are still paying) and went to court. We had significant portions of the law struck as unconstitutional only to have it re-instated with an appeal. We applied to appeal to the SCC but they refused to hear our case.

The McGuinty government has fought us tooth and nail by using endless dollars fighting us in court including an appeal. They have used endless taxpayer dollars killing family pets - using MAG (Ministry Attorney General) lawyers in individual cases. They have spurred outright witch hunts in some jurisdictions going door to door seizing family pets since police powers were given to municipal workers and in many cases contract workers for municipalities.  

We currently have a tri-party supported, Bill 16 which is past second reading. The Bill has passed through committee hearings, which appeared to be ignored yet again. Merely a carbon copy in condensed form the committee hearings were 100% against the ban. Experts including DLCC, now retired Bill Bruce from Calgary, AVMA, CKC among many more all presented factual information clearly demonstrating the utter failure of breed banning worldwide plus clearly laying out alternatives.

Most jurisdictions have repealed such as Holland, Switzerland, Ohio, Cincinnati, Toledo (home of Liberal "expert witness" dog catcher Tom Skeldon who was later fired in 2004),  and countless other jurisdictions. 

The state of Massachusetts recently passed a state law making it illegal to target specific breeds with laws in local communities.     

The former AG of Ontario Michael Bryant recently admitted publicly the Ontario  breed ban appealed to his giant ego and he was a drunk during his time as AG until 2006. This explains a lot and confirms a lot of suspicions however what the hell is Dalton McGuinty's excuse? 

What exactly is Dalton McNanny's reason in procrastinating bringing Bill 16 for third reading? Three Liberal MPP's voted in favour of the Bill at second reading and one of them, Kim Craitor, signed on to the Bill. We have had numerous other Liberal MPP's speak with us, indicating they hold cabinet posts so *they must vote with government* but they are in favour of Bill 16. There were few Liberals left in the house during the vote at second reading. There is more than enough support to get this Bill passed. This is his *way out* if he so cowardly wishes to save face.

Dalton McGuinty has a lot to answer for! It is a crime in my eyes what he has done to innocent dog owners and innocent family pets in Ontario. If one wanted to actually improve public safety with regard to dog bites, the law we have had in place since the late 1800's, you know the one the ban is an amendment to, DOLA Dog Owners Liability Act, is waiting to be enforced upon dog owners of any shape/size/type/look or breed of dog. The law has disproportionately been enforced to hunt for so called "pit bulls" in Ontario while it is business as usual regarding public safety. The public is no safer today than it was August 28, 2005!

This whole charade has been a heartbreaking, expensive, futile exercise in discrimination toward dog owners who happen to own a certain "look" of dog. That "look" is as diverse as there are animal control officers in Ontario.

   
Many things need to change.

Main stream media continues to fill space with dog attack stories by so called "pit bulls". This week CTV Toronto's lead story on the 6pm news was a so called "pit bull" attacked another family pet in a park. Not once did the victim say the dog was a "pit bull" and the dog was never found yet CTV lead you to believe they are experts in identifying a "pit bull" even though the dog had disappeared before they were on the scene? 

Governments must stop making decisions perpetuating a myth!

The propaganda campaign must end!

People must understand Dogs Bite: But Balloons And Slippers Are More Dangerous.

One thing this older and wiser Ontario dog owner knows for sure... 

You may as well give up Dalton McGuinty. Stop your nannying ways!

We will never give up and *We won't back down!*

Lyrics | Tom Petty lyrics - I Won't Back Down lyrics