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