In Montreal, Canada, lawmakers and the citizenry are clashing over plans to pass a law banning the acquisition of pit bulls and pit-bull-type dogs; though they are also still at odds over what dog breeds are considered as ‘pit-bull type’, what physical characteristics make them fall under the category, and who will make the determination.
The law was sparked by an incident involving a dog which was first identified by police as a pit bull. It happened in June when 55-year-old Christiane Vadnais died after being attacked by a fierce dog in her own yard.
The dog belongs to a neighbor who had registered the dog’s name as ‘Lucifer’ and dog breed as ‘boxer’; although owners are not required to bring their dogs for verification of the breed when they are registered.
The first responders on the scene, including another neighbor who had witnessed the incident and called the police believe that the dog was a pit bull; subsequent news reports of the incident reported the dog as a pit bull although the cops would later release a statement admitting that they are not really sure whether it was a pit bull, “because we’re not canine experts. We have no expertise whatsoever to say that dog was a pit bull.”
To solve the matter, the city has already sent samples for DNA testing to formally determine the dog’s real breed.
Some people (mostly dog lovers) are calling this matter as ‘dog racism’, defending the breed and similar breeds saying that there are no bad dogs but only bad dog owners that lead to untrained, fierce dogs. Of course, the other faction of people believes that if that argument is to be accepted as true, who will defend the public from the dogs of irresponsible owners?
Source: Montreal Gazette
0 Comments