We want friends! / Nous cherchons des amis!

Not content to be alone in this cold and cruel world, we're looking for friends.

The MCC/CCM is always interested in hearing from like minded individuals or groups who are interested in working to make Montreal a human and canine friendly city.

If you're just what we're looking for, or we're just what you've been looking for, drop us a note at: coalitioncaninemontreal@gmail.com

Comme nous n'aimons pas être seuls dans ce monde froid et cruel, nous recherchons des amis!

La CCM/MCC est toujours intéressée à entendre les gens ou groupes qui partagent nos idées et qui sont intéressés à faire de Montréal une ville plaisante pour les gens et les chiens.

Si vous vous reconnaissez ou si vous nous reconnaissez, écrivez-nous à coalitioncaninemontreal@gmail.com

Who we are / Qui sommes-nous

The Montreal Canine Coalition supports effective, all-breed animal laws and responsible dog ownership practices.

We aim to provide information on the ineffective nature of breed-specific legislation as well as propose alternative measures to deal with dog-related issues in the city of Montreal.

We are a network of interested and effected organizations, groups and individuals.

The Montreal Canine Coalition acknowledges the problems in Montreal involving dogs, but looks to better enforcement of existing leash, licensing and containment bylaws, education (and perhaps the development of community based resources, wouldn't that be nice?) and the implementation of generic dangerous dog regulations to solve these. In short, we aim to work with the borough or City to find solutions which are agreeable to them, while minimizing the negative impact on various dog-owning communities.

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La Coalition canine de Montréal soutient une règlementation efficace et non-discriminatoire en matière d'animaux de compagnie ainsi que des comportements responsables de la part de gardiens/propriétaires de chiens.

Nous voulons fournir de l'information sur l'inefficacité des interdictions de races et proposer d'autres méthodes pour traiter de la problématique canine à Montréal.

La Coalition est un réseau d'organismes, groupes et individus intéressés et affectés par la règlementation .

La Coalition reconnaît qu'il y a des problèmes à Montréal impliquant des chiens mais vise une meilleure application des règlements existants en matière d'enregistrement, de promenade et de confinement, une sensibilisation accrue (voire le développement de ressources communautaires res) et une mise en oeuvre d'une règlementation en matière de chiens dangereux, sans égard à la race, pour régler ces problèmes. Nous voulons travailler avec les instances municipales pour trouver des solutions qui plaisent à tous, tout en minimisant les impacts négatifs sur les différentes communautés canines.

Changements proposés au règlement de l'arrondissement Ville-Marie

Le conseil de l'arrondissement Ville-Marie envisagerait les changements suivants au règlement actuellement en vigueur:

- l'interdiction des pit bulls et de tout chien similaire

- le pouvoir, pour un policier, d'abattre sur le champ un chien ayant un comportement perçu comme dangereux

- limite de 2 chiens en laisse par personne

- obligation de museler en public tout chien jugé 'dangereux'

Ces changements sont à l'étude suite à la hausse récente d'incidents impliquant des chiens dans l'arrondissement, même si aucun détail de ces incidents a été divulgué au public. On pourrais considérer ridicules ces changements et ne pas s'y attarder, sauf qu'il y a peut-être quelques problèmes qui méritent d'être réglés.

Par exemple, le bon usage de la laisse est largement inconnu ici. Combien de problèmes pourraient être réglés si les ressources de l'arrondissement étaient tout simplement consacrées au respect des règlements existants?

Ne serait-il pas préférable de trouver des solutions pour rendre Ville-Marie plaisant pour les chiens (de toutes races) et les gens qui n'ont pas de chiens? Au lieu de regarder vers l'Ontario pour des réponses, le conseil d'arrondissement devrait peut-être étudier de meilleurs modèles, comme le règlement municipal de Calgary?

A cette fin, la Coalition canine de Montréal invite les gens à assister aux prochaines séances du Conseil d'arrondissement afin de pouvoir réagir quand ce projet sera déposé.

Prochaine assemblée
Mardi 4 mars, 19 h 00
Marché Bonsecours, 350 Saint-Paul Est

Un projet de loi suscite la controverse - Corus Nouvelles

Montréal | Mardi 12 fév 2008 | 05:41

(INFO690) - L'arrondissement Ville-Marie pourrait appliquer dès l'été prochain une politique des plus controversées envers les propriétaires de chiens à Montréal.

Afin de réduire les incidents liés aux animaux au centre-ville, l'arrondissement permettrait par exemple aux policiers de tirer à vue sur un chien qu'ils considèrent comme étant dangereux.

L'arrondissement, qui prévoit bannir les Pitt Bulls de son territoire, entend aussi rendre obligatoire le port de la muselière pour les chiens indisciplinés dans les espaces publics.

Les propriétaires de chiens devront aussi s'adapter aux nouvelles lois de l'arrondissement, car il leur sera interdit de sortir avec plus de deux chiens en laisse.

Le conseil de l'arrondissement étudie ce projet de loi depuis septembre dernier.

Si le maire Benoit Labonté va de l'avant avec cette nouvelle politique, elle pourrait être appliquée dès avril ou mai prochain.

Il sera interdit de promener plus de deux chiens dans Ville-Marie - La Presse

Mario Paquet Photo Armand Trottier, La Presse

Sara Champagne
Le samedi 19 janvier 2008
La Presse

L'aventure des neuf chiens de Mario Paquet, ce sans-abri du centre-ville qui avait été jusqu'en Cour supérieure pour sauver l'une de ses bêtes de l'euthanasie, achève. L'arrondissement de Ville-Marie est sur le point de modifier son règlement pour interdire de promener plus de deux chiens à la fois en laisse sur le domaine public, a appris La Presse.

Le nouveau règlement sera soumis à un premier vote des élus à la prochaine séance du conseil d'arrondissement, le 5 février. Il n'est pas exclu qu'il comporte une exception pour les gens dont le métier est de promener les chiens, mais la décision n'a pas encore été prise, indique-t-on à l'arrondissement.

Benoît Labonté, maire de Ville-Marie, explique que les nouvelles restrictions s'inscrivent dans la foulée des mesures qui ont été prises, l'été dernier, pour bannir les chiens du square Viger et du parc Émilie-Gamelin. Il se défend bien d'agir contre Mario Paquet ou sa meute de chiens.

«Je pense que tout le monde va comprendre que dans le contexte d'un centre-ville, on ne peut pas avoir cinq ou six chiens par personne sur le trottoir. Imaginez si on multiplie ce nombre de chiens par 20, 25 ou 30 citoyens. Nous sommes ici dans un endroit de cohabitation, pas dans un chenil», estime M. Labonté.

Découragé

Mario Paquet, lui, ne voit pas le nouveau règlement du même oeil. Dans son nouveau repère, à l'entrée d'un commerce vacant, angle Sainte-Catherine et Saint-Thimothée, il explique qu'il se sent visé directement. Il est découragé. D'autant plus que l'annonce survient deux semaines seulement après un autre incident impliquant ses chiens et un citoyen, mordu légèrement à deux endroits. Il s'agit du deuxième incident à survenir en deux ans.

«Il faisait noir et j'étais dos à l'homme qui a été attaqué par mes chiens, explique M. Paquet. Mes chiens ont voulu sauter sur son chien. C'est malheureux, mais j'avais omis de porter l'une de mes ceintures qui me relie à mes chiens par des laisses. Je n'ai pas pu agir.»

Si l'arrondissement va de l'avant avec l'adoption du nouveau règlement, M. Paquet prévient qu'il partira en croisade et qu'il n'hésitera pas à porter plainte auprès de la Commission des droits de la personne, en se basant sur sa condition sociale et son droit de propriété. «On fera circuler une pétition, ajoute-t-il. S'il le faut, j'irai même en Cour supérieure pour défendre mes droits à avoir des chiens dans la rue. Mes chiens sont ma famille, ma raison de vivre.»

À la Société de développement commercial (SDC) du Village, où on affirme avoir reçu de nombreuses plaintes des commerçants contre les chiens de M. Paquet, on approuve la décision de l'arrondissement. «On n'a rien contre Mario, il fait partie du quartier, de son âme, il est là depuis 10 ans. Sauf qu'on ne veut pas d'une troisième attaque», dit Bernard Plante, directeur général de la SDC.

Phénomène en hausse

Selon lui, le phénomène des sans-abri avec trois ou quatre chiens grimpe en popularité. On se l'explique mal, ajoute M. Plante. «Mais c'est dangereux. Comment voulez-vous retenir 600 ou 700 livres de pression au bout d'une laisse? Même un géant n'y arriverait pas.»

Celui qui a été attaqué abonde dans le même sens, et n'a pas l'intention de lâcher le morceau. «Je vais tout faire pour que les trois chiens de la meute qui ont sauté sur nous ne soient plus dans la rue, affirme Bradley Boss, qui était en compagnie de son ami le soir du 4 janvier quand il a été mordu. J'ai même écrit au maire de Montréal.»

Depuis l'incident, Mario Paquet affirme que trois de ses chiens sont tenus en muselière. Quand La Presse l'a rencontré, les neuf bêtes étaient réfugiées sous une bâche bleue. Il y avait du vent à écorner les boeufs, une journée parmi tant d'autres pour Mario Paquet qui a choisi la rue de plein gré.

Dogs meet tighter leashes in Ville-Marie - McGill Daily

Biggest overhaul of pet by-laws since the 1950s targets homeless, may allow police to shoot dogs deemed dangerous

By Martha Hunter
News Writer

Two dogs, and not a pup more: similar bans this past June displaced homeless from Berri Square and Viger Park.Rebecca Wild for The McGill Daily

Eight months after banning dogs in two of its parks over the summer, Ville-Marie has proposed a more extensive set of restrictions to curb the presence of dogs downtown.

The borough has suggested banning pit bulls from Ville-Marie, forbidding people from walking more than two dogs at once, and granting police power to shoot dogs they deem dangerous. Currently police are allowed to shoot only if an animal appears rabid.

The Ville-Marie administration asserts these measures are a necessary response to an increasing public outcry over ill-behaved dogs and their owners. Yet there is concern that the real targets are not dangerous dogs, but the homeless.

“They are the continuation of a campaign against marginalized people,” Bernard St-Jacques, a community organizer with Le Réseau d’aide aux personnes seules et itinérantes de Montréal (RAPSIM), said of the by-laws.

“They are not in the same logic as the problem,” St-Jacques added.

The banning of dogs in Berri Square and Viger Park in June was also criticized as being only a cover for displacing the homeless and street people.

Forced to leave the two parks, street people either moved on or rented cheap apartments in large groups, St-Jacques said, categorizing the time as the worst summer ever.

Rony Griffin, who owns an eight year-old Rottweiler named Sam, also thought the by-laws are targeting the wrong party.

“Blame the owners, not the dog,” he said.

Griffin called the by-laws stupid and said that he was particularly concerned about the proposed change that allows police to shoot dogs.

“If they shoot my dog, they better shoot me as well,” Griffin said.

A borough spokesperson told the The Montreal Gazette last week that downtown, Montrealers reported 19 dog bites to police in 2007, up from five in 2006.

Still, people are doubtful that the laws will even be effective at their stated goal. Pierre Barnoti, the Communications Director of the Montreal SPCA, singled out the pit-bull ban for particular scorn.

“Banning any breed of dog is not a good idea,” Barnoti said. “By banning one breed of dog, you’re just making the second most aggressive one move up.”

The city of Winnipeg, Manitoba was the first Canadian city to ban pit bulls in 1990, and in 2005, Ontario was the first to implement a province-wide ban.

Barnoti noted that aggression is not inherent in a breed. Rather, he said, it originates in the culture of how dogs are raised. Guard dogs are often used to patrol lumber lots and other businesses, but can escape easily after a snowfall.

He also urged police to use the same judgment with dangerous dogs as they do with aggressive humans if the by-laws are approved.

Ville-Marie is currently reviewing the by-laws, which could be implemented in April.

RAPSIM is preparing an open letter to Montreal newspapers about the by-laws, and will attend the March 4 council meeting when the changes will be put to vote.

Purposed Ville-Marie Bylaw Changes

The Ville Marie borough council is purposing the following changes to their by laws (though, of course, the details are few and far between):

-a ban of pit bulls and pit bull mixes

-police authority to shoot a dog deemed to be acting in a dangerous manner "on the spot"

-a limit of 2 on the number of dogs one person may walk at one time (though exceptions for "professional dog walkers" may be made)

-mandatory muzzling in public of those dogs deemed "dangerous"

These changes are being considered in light of recent increases in reported incidents involving dogs in the borough, though again, the details of these incidents have not been made public. It's tempting to just call these measures silly and be done with it, however one must admit that perhaps there are a few problems that need addressing.

Leash laws, for example, are largely ignored here. How many problems might be solved if the boroughs resources where simply put into adequately enforcing the existing bylaws?

Would it not be preferable to find solutions which make Ville Marie friendly to both dogs (of all breeds) and the general non-dog owning public? Perhaps rather than looking to Ontario for answers, the borough council might do some research into better models, such as Calgary's Responsible Pet Ownership Bylaw

To that end, the Montreal Canine Coalition would like to encourage people to attend the borough council meeting:

Tues. March 4th 7:00pm
Marché Bonsecours 350 Saint-Paul Est

Ville Marie to curtail number of dogs

Jan Ravensbergen, The Gazette

Published: Monday, February 11

Pit bulls and pit-bull crossbreeds are to be banned from Montreal's downtown and pet-owners limited to two dogs at a time in public spaces, Jean-Yves Duthel, a spokesperson for the Ville Marie borough, said Monday.

The proposed bylaw changes could be approved by borough council as soon as April or May, he added - and take effect well in advance of the peak summer dog season.

"Professional dog-walkers" would be exempted from the two-pooch limit, Duthel added, as part of a package of changes that could be presented to the borough council as early as March 4.

Dog walker.Ian Barrett, The Gazette

Under borough rules, these could not be adopted until the following meeting, in early April.

Duthel said he could not disclose the proposed wording, because enforcability and clarity are still being examined by legal counsel.

The number of documented dog-bites of humans in the borough jumped to 19 last year from five in 2006, Duthel said.

In each case, he added, the dog's owner was ticketed by police But an unknown number of other dogbites never show up in statistics because they are not reported to police, and thus are not ticketed, Duthel added.

"Incidents are multiplying," he said: More than 200 complaints specifically regarding ill-behaviour by dogs - or

an absence of pet control shown by their owners - were called in to the access Ville Marie phone service from last April, when the borough created such a category of statistics, through to October, Duthel said.

Muzzles would also be made obligatory for ill-behaved dogs, Duthel said, adding that the exact wording of such a provision is also under scrutiny by borough lawyers.

The same proviso applies to a proposed new power over pets to be provided to police - the explicit authority to shoot dogs who are not rabid "on the spot" if they show other serious misbehavior that Duthel said he could not immediately specify.

Some homeless people, often young, camp with considerably more than two dogs in downtown public spaces such as parks and streets during the summer.

Duthel said these bylaw changes are not aimed exclusively against the homeless or their dogs.

For one thing, he said, many homeless have breeds of dogs other than pit bulls or pit-bull crossbreeds.

Municipal bylaws governing pets and pet-owners were last revised about half a century ago, Duthel said.

janr@thegazette.canwest.com

The Gazette: Ville Marie calling dog owners to heel

Ville Marie calling dog owners to heel

JAN RAVENSBERGEN, The Gazette

Published: Tuesday, February 12

Dog owners downtown are soon going to find themselves on a much shorter leash - probably facing stiff new rules by April or May.

Visitors or homeless people with unruly pooches will also be called to heel, at least if the Ville Marie borough has its way.

Owners will be limited to two dogs outdoors at a time, whether walking on sidewalks, playing in parks or elsewhere.

Pit bulls will be barred from the downtown borough.

Muzzles will also be made obligatory for particularly ill-behaved canines in public spaces.

For the first time, police will be specifically empowered to shoot on sight dogs considered very dangerous.

The far-reaching crackdown - aimed at controlling an increasing number of problem pooches in the city's core - has been under quiet study by borough mayor Benoît Labonté, council members and other officials since last September, Ville Marie spokes-person Jean-Yves Duthel said yesterday.

The changes will extend far beyond a simple tightening of leash laws, he added:

n Pit bulls and pit-bull crossbreeds are to be banned from Ville Marie, which covers 14.5 square kilometres and has 78,876 human residents but, with dog-licensing laws ignored by many, is also home for an unknown number of dogs.

n Professional dog-walkers might be exempted from the new two-pooch limit. "We are considering" whether such dog-walkers could be provided with a licence allowing them to take out more than two at a time, Duthel said, but "no decision on this has been made."

n Muzzles would be made mandatory outdoors for ill-behaved dogs, although he refused to provide a precise standard.

n Police officers would be granted explicit authority to shoot - "on the spot" - dogs that show "very dangerous" behaviour. Such life or death power for police is currently restricted to dealing with out-of-control dogs that appear to have rabies, Duthel said. Officers could resort to either conventional weapons or tranquilizer darts, he added.

The measures, Duthel said, are all designed to protect increasingly uncomfortable pedestrians from dogs accompanied by negligent, careless or discourteous owners, particularly during the summer.

He cited a sharp rise in dog bites - 19 were reported to police downtown last year, up almost fourfold from the five reported in 2006 - as well as an upsurge in other public complaints about dogs.

An increasing number of homeless people, many of them young, have been camping out in the city's centre during recent summers accompanied by packs of dogs.

These new measures are not aimed solely that those dog owners, Duthel said - but they are being equally targeted.

"Even the homeless," Duthel added, "are saying we should do something about this."

The changes will mark the first significant overhaul of pet bylaws since the 1950s, he added.

Precise wording is being scrutinized by borough lawyers in an effort to remove ambiguities or other grounds for legal challenges, he said, including possible challenges from homeless persons or groups arguing discrimination.

Existing bylaws don't even make it explicit that dogs on the streets or sidewalks must be leashed, according to Duthel.

Each Montreal household is already limited to two mature dogs; newborn puppies can't be kept longer than three months.

Fines for those who are caught breaking the toughened bylaws will be increased, Duthel said, from the current $100 plus costs for a first offence, although "I can't say now by how much."

The changes could be presented to the borough council as early as March 4, its next meeting, Duthel said.

They would then be voted on at the council's subsequent meeting, scheduled for April 1.

While police issue a ticket to dog-owners whenever a bite is reported to them, Duthel said, an unknown number of bites never show up in statistics because they aren't reported.

Police issued a total of 43 tickets for unruly pet behaviour - including dog bites - across Ville Marie in 2007, Duthel said, more than double the 2006 total of 18.

Even when they don't result in a ticket, he said, "incidents are multiplying."

More than 200 dog complaints were phoned to the Access Ville Marie service between last April and October, Duthel said, either about unruly dogs or absent owners.

Pit bulls are already banned in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver, Duthel said.

"To restrict people to two (dogs at a time on walks) is unfair," said Rona Dermer, who owns two poodles and frequently exercises three of four dogs at a time for friends and neighbours in the Shaughnessy Village neighbourhood on the west side of Ville Marie.

"Some people can handle four or more," Dermer argued.

janr@thegazette.canwest.com