Monday, February 25, 2008

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.

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