Urgent Alert For Pit Bulls!

pitbulliest

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#1
As some of you may have already heard, there is a pit bull ban proposal taking place in the province of Ontario in Canada at the moment. For the past couple of weeks, its all that seems to be in the news. Let me fill you all in:

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CTV.ca News Staff

The Ontario government is considering a province-wide ban on pit bulls in the wake of another vicious attack involving the controversial dog breed.

Attorney General Michael Bryant tells the Toronto Star that governments ban or restrict dangerous weapons, and it wouldn't be a big jump to include pit bulls in that category. He plans to decide by the end of the year whether to bring in a province-wide ban.

On the weekend, two pit bulls in Toronto attacked a 25-year-old man, leaving him with extensive leg, back and arm injuries. Witnesses say if police had not shot the dogs 16 times, the animals would likely have killed the man.

The dogs belonged to a friend and the victim was walking them, around 3 a.m., when the dogs turned on him for unknown reasons. The victim remains in hospital.

Bryant says his province has an obligation to protect people from dangerous animals. He has asked his staff to look into the possibility of a ban on the breed and says he will also seek input from Ontarians as well.

Pit bulls are not a specific breed, but include Staffordshire terriers, sometimes called "Staffs," American pit bull terriers, and mixes.

The pit bull has long courted controversy. Some owners believe that the problem is owners who train their dogs to be aggressive and say it's not fair to ban the entire breed. Others argue that the dogs have long been bred as attack dogs and their aggression is in their genes.

Municipalities already have the option of banning pit bulls under the Ontario Municipal Act. Bryant says though that does little good if there is a "pit bull" resort in a neighbouring municipality.

The city of Kitchener has a ban on pit bulls. Its bylaw says anyone who has acquired a pit bull since April 7, 1997 and has not removed it from the city faces a fine of up to $5,000.

Jamie Laflamme, the assistant manager of the Kitchener-Waterloo Humane Society, says the ban seems to be working. He says before the ban came into place, there were an average of 15 attacks a year in the previous two years. These days, there are only two attacks a year from dogs that have entered the city illegally.

But Laflamme isn't convinced that a provincewide ban is the solution.

"It's a short term solution to the problem," he told CTV.ca "People who want fighter dogs will just get something else. We have a bigger problem than just pit bulls."

Laflamme says all dogs can be dangerous when aggressive, but pit bulls attacks are particularly vicious.

"The pit bull was bred to fight, that's what they were bred for. The size of their jaws, their tenacity, their pain threshold -- that's how they kill, and the wounds they create are severe," he says.

"When I heard that it took 16 shots to kill those dogs in Toronto, I wasn't surprised. That's what they're bred to do, to withstand pain and not let go."

Saskatchewan is the only province to pass "dangerous-dog" legislation with penalties that include fines of up to $10,000 or six months in jail or both.

Bryant has asked Ontarians to email him at [email protected] with their thoughts and to include "Pit bull" in the Subject line.

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Here is Micheal Bryant's contact information:


[email protected]
Queen's Park
Ministry of the Attorney General
720 Bay St, 11th Flr
Toronto ON M5G 2K1
Tel / Tél : 416-326-2220
Fax / Téléc : 416-326-4016


Constituency Office/ Bureau de circonscription
803 St. Clair Ave W
Toronto ON M6C 1B9
Tel / Tél : 416-656-0943
Fax / Téléc : 416-656-0875
email / courriel : [email protected]


I strongly urge EVERYONE to participate in this fight against breed specific legislation. We all know that it is absolutely pointless and has done nothing good..if not..only bad. Please write it and let him know that its the people that need to be punished, not the breed. Pit bulls are wonderful, don't let the government take them away from us responsible owners. PLEASE WRITE IN!


Thank you for your guy's attention and cooperation during this very difficult time.
 

bogolove

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#4
Oh my gosh! I was in Petsmart today and one did attack me....kissing me with her tongue! She was so sweet! It is really disturbing the way they don't take responsible dog owners and breeders into consideration. They don't fine people who shouldn't have kids. Yet they will punish responsible dog owners. Some of the sweetest dogs I know are dogs people consider "mean" or "scary" or "vicious". This makes me so angry!
 
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#5
Thanks much for sharing this information with the forum. I for one will email a nice but kurt letter to Mr. Bryant. He is probably a cat lover because he doens't know much about dogs...

Chazhound
 
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#6
I don't know how much credibility American correspondence will have, but I, too, will send a letter - after I do a bit of research to back it up!

A far better solution would be to criminalize training and abusing these - and any - dogs for the purposes of inducing aggressive behavior. A very specific list of training aids for aggression could be banned and criminalized as well. Dogs don't break laws; humans do.
 

pitbulliest

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#8
Yes YES definately. The more people that know about this that truely support a positive image of pit bulls, the better. Please go ahead and let all your friends and relatives know as well. It doesn't matter if you're from the states... this guy obviously has no clue when it comes to these dogs..or any dogs for that matter. He needs as many people to tell him (that BANNING will not work) as possible. Thank you again everyone for your support :)
 
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#10
It is stupid to ban any breed of dog. Any dog, no matter what breed, can be vicious. As a matter of fact, little dogs are much more likely to bite than big dogs. The only difference is everyone thinks it is cute when a poodle bites somebody and assume it's no big deal because the little poodle doesn't do nearly as much " damage" as a pit bull, rottweiler, doberman, etc. can. Most people would laugh at a headline reading " Mail man attacked by miniature poodle," wouldn't they? It's the big dogs that can really tear a person apart that get the attention from the media.

I have never gotten bit by a big dog.. it has always been little dogs. My parents had a miniature poodle named Suzie who liked to bite everyone. It started off when my older brother Russell would tease Suzie thinking it was funny to get her mad. Well it is not funny! Suzie was so mean my mom could not take her to the groomers and my mom had to put a muzzle on her so she could give Suzie a bath. A neighbor of mine had a little chihuahua and rat terrier mix dog and he was a hateful little s**t. He would growl if you wanted to pet him. Of course the idiot owner also liked to tease his dog because he thought it was funny and besides, he is so small what harm could it do? Well the moron also let this dog run and he eventually got killed.

Ok, I am getting off subject here. Sorry.

I just think it is unfair they are picking on certain breeds... there should be stronger laws concerning stupid and irresponsible pet owners. Most of the time when a dog attacks it is the owners fault and the owner is the monster, not the dog. If someone abuses a dog or keep sit chained or penned up 24/7 and gives it no attention, the dog is going to go crazy. Wouldn't anyone? Also how is a dog supposed to trust people and know how to act if never trained or socialized with people.

Another thing, ban a breed and the irresponsible owners will just move on to another breed. Any dog can be vicious. As a matter of fact there are many more vicious and unstable labs and goldens then what there used to be.

To conclude this, anybody who thinks pits or rotts are mean have never been around that many of them. Pit bulls and rottweilers are the sweetest dogs I have ever known.
 

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