Friday, February 29, 2008

Labrador mix named Munchie killed in Toronto

Munchie, the lab mix involved in a high profile case in Toronto, was killed on Monday according to the Toronto Star.

Munchie lab mix
Two young female Ryerson University students were the owners of Munchie.  Here is an excerpt from the story at Caveat:
The case began last September when Munchie escaped his downtown backyard. A scuffle ended with Munchie's quarantine and criminal charges against the man the dog is alleged to have attacked.
Sheila Yeung, one of Munchie's owners, said her neighbour had previously threatened to kill the dog and on that day he attacked the dog with a knife. When the dog broke free of his grasp, it ran into the house, she said.
Yeung, a 21-year-old Ryerson student, said she locked her door only to have the man break in, make threats and hold her at knifepoint. That man currently faces charges including uttering threats, break and enter and threatening with a weapon. None of the allegations has been proven in court.
But the man claims he and his dog were bitten. As a result, Munchie was quarantined and has remained with Animal Services since.
In October, Animal Services classified Munchie as a pit bull, and a threat to the safety of others.
Yeung said the dog is gentle and friendly. Munchie is a mutt who looks like a chocolate Lab, she said.
As of Feb 14, 2008 the court upheld a decision by Toronto Animal Services to have the 4-year-old dog destroyed. Munchie has 30 days to live, pending an appeal. Unfortunately this case cost the students over 15,000.00 in legal costs. An appeal would have been very expensive and difficult to win.  Munchie paid the highest price. He paid with his life.
In my opinion, it sounds as if these girls had a dirt bag neighbour with an axe to grind. He was in jail 9 days before offering up the information he had been allegedly bitten by Munchie. The police said he had a scratch and why would he wait 9 days before offering up this information?
Thank you again Michael Bryant and the Liberal government of Ontario, for providing the opportunity, to people with a vendetta, to put the victim and their dog on the chopping block! I have been actively involved in many cases in Ontario and most of them have a neighbour or family member (usually of the "ex" persuasion) who have lodged a complaint, which resulted in the dog ending up in custody and later dead.
Well known Animal Behaviourist, Cheryl Smith, performed an assessment on Munchie. Here is an excerpt from that assessment:
Even under less optimum conditions, Munchie did not display aggressive behaviour during the entire Assessment.
To read the full report of the assessment go to Munchie's blog.
Caveat was in touch with the owners of Munchie. The girls gave Caveat some details into the case. There are some disturbing details that Caveat wrote in this story. Check it out!
I am outraged at the state of this province! I have been involved in this fight against breed discrimination for the last 5 years, and even though I must say I have "toughened" up, my heart bleeds for the thousands of dogs that have lost their lives to this INSANE law!



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