As True Activist reported last week, the city of Montreal voted to ban all pit bull-like dogs and animal lovers are up in arms about it in hopes of having the decision reversed. The new law effectively bans any animal that may look like a pit bull terrier, which is bad news for owners and even worse news for the true victims of the ban: innocent dogs.
Justice Louis Gouin ordered the ban to be suspended on Monday, while the court trial brought forward by the Montreal SPCA presents their case against the ban. The SPCA had filed a lawsuit and simultaneously asked for a suspension of the ban until the hearing is over. The suspension started the same day that the ban was supposed to take effect.
Volunteer Carolyn Williams with One Last Chance Animal Rescue Team told The Dodo, “We are happy but won’t celebrate until we have a verdict.”
For those who already own a pit bull, the law states that the dogs must have a special permit to be allowed in the city, and they must be muzzled while on a 4-foot leash at all times in public. The permit costs $150, and with the added cost of purchasing a muzzle and new leash this makes the ban impossible for very low income people to afford. For those who can afford to keep their dogs alive, their pit bulls are now miserable on walks that used to let them feel free while exhausting some of their energy.
What’s even sadder is that all of the dogs suspected of being pit bulls that enter local shelters are automatically euthanized. If the owner of a permitted pit bull dies, that dog is also killed automatically. The law is barbaric and follows antiquated logic that says that all pit bulls must be treated with caution and that limiting them will cause less dog attacks.
With the suspension of the ban in place, dogs that would have been put down on Monday can still continue to be adopted out. The ban also stated that shelters could no longer adopt out pit bull-like dogs, making it impossible for the dogs already in shelters before the new law started to find their forever home.
Thankfully, shelters, individuals, and volunteers have been rescuing pit bulls from the shelters affected by the law, in an effort to save them from death. Dozens of dogs have been sent outside of Quebec in preparation for the ban, and many more will likely be moved out just in case the lawsuit falls through.
If you are against this ban as well, you can sign the petition to have it reversed here, or you can donate to Montreal SPCA to help them fight the ban.
What are your thoughts on this ban? Please share, like, and comment on this article!
This article (Pit Bull Ban SUSPENDED In Montreal—For Now) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author and TrueActivist.com
