Pit bull ban to be lifted?
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The Doug Ford government is considering ending the pit bull ban.
Jenessa Crognali, press secretary for Ontario Attorney General Doug Downey, said Monday the government is “considering all options with regards to the Dog Owners Liability Act and breed-specific legislation.”
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Former Attorney General Michael Bryant, under former premier Dalton McGuinty, passed legislation in 2005 that banned the importation and breeding of pit bulls in Ontario.
Pit bulls already in the province were allowed to stay provided owners ensured their dogs were sterilized and, while in public, leashed and muzzled.
The legislation was introduced and passed after several high profile pit bull attacks.
Fans of the dogs were vocal in their opposition to the law from the start, calling it vaguely worded and unfair — urging the government to instead punish bad dog owners.
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One such opponent of the bill is independent MPP Randy Hillier, who has owned pit bulls.
Ford has spoken against the Dog Owners Liability Act, but it remains to be seen if the Premier is prepared to face the ire of those who support the bill, Hillier said.
“I think the proper thing to do would be to repeal it,” he said.
“We’re the only province with breed-specific legislation in the country. Most of the other jurisdictions that were toying with it decided there was no evidence that it was effective.”
When there have been attacks involving pit bulls, it’s almost exclusively the fault of owners who neglect or improperly train their dogs, he said.
“If somebody owns a dog, or somebody owns a firearm or somebody owns a car that individual has the obligation to make sure that the dog or the car or whatever is used properly,” he said.
Critics of the original legislation warned its definition of a pit bull could be too broad as it is not a recognized breed.
Hillier said the law has led to the improper seizure of some dogs but is largely unenforced.
“Over the years, people discovered the enforcement was pretty much impossible,” Hillier said.
“They can’t definitely say if a dog is a pit bull more often than not… I don’t believe any law should be on the books that can’t be enforced.”
The Ford government’s rethink of the pit bull ban comes after several high profile attacks in the United States, including a nine-year-old girl in Detroit mauled to death in August by three dogs who escaped their owner’s yard.
The owner in that case faces charges of second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and having a dangerous animal causing death.
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