Ontario's Pit Bull Ban

The pit bull ban comes into effect in Ontario today. I don't like pit bulls, but this is a law meant to puff up political chests and little else. I've only ever been attacked by German Shepherds. If the politicians were serious, they would stop barking and start thinking:
  1. Hold owners accountable for dog attacks. Treat these the same as human attacks.
  2. Enforce leash laws and monitor leash-free parks. Leash-free parks are necessary for happy dogs -- every dog needs to have a place to run, and happy dogs are less aggressive. But everywhere else they ought to be leashed.
  3. Revamp fence rules, as for swimming pools but higher cause some dogs can jump!
  4. Have an education campaign, like for West Nile, telling people how to treat strange dogs because quite a few are rather daft in letting their kids run blithely up to dogs as if they would all welcome some unknown tiny hand smacking them in the snozz.
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Comments

CQ said…
_Some people (even in urban areas) just choose "tough" dogs over "normal" dogs like Labs or Beagles etc. The owners should be more accountable but that point becomes moot to a person or another animal which is already attacked.
_My family once had an Irish Setter, but even a 6ft fence couldn't keep it enclosed.
True. But the pit bull law wouldn't have stopped the German Shepherd attacking me nor the Great Dane from almost pulling her owner off her feet to get at my lab mix nor the chihuahua from trying to have my arm for breakfast. The government has to put more thought into an effective animal control law, one that will work for all breeds.
Chimera said…
You don't find this problem in Europe, because Europeans socialize their dogs from puppyhood -- they are pretty much treated like members of the family. They go everywhere the owner goes, and there are very few problems. And you don't hear any screams about how unsanitary it is to have a dog in a restaurant, either (seeing-eye dogs, in North America, are mysteriously sanitized somehow).

In North America, we license the dogs. I think we ought to license the owners, instead, and they should have to pass a competency test, just like drivers do.
That's the objection Clayton Ruby's client has: she won't be able to socialilze her dog properly if he has a muzzle on and can't play freely with other dogs in a leash-free zone. That scares me more. It took me 2 years to socialize a previously neglected adult dog. Even then, he never completely lost his neuroses. It amazes me how many become perplexed when their dog or cat turns vicious after being locked in the basement, a bathroom, an outdoor kennel (that was a cute lab!), a cage (can't stand those things), and being ignored. Well, wouldn't they get rather pissed off too?! I like your licensing idea!
Anonymous said…
Once again, common sense should rule or in my own words a no brainer. Your "dog" any style of dog (even the designer? doodlies dog), injures someone -- you are responsible and accountable. Really don't need any more laws, or bannings -- just enforce what we have! Your dog severely mauls somebody $500,000 - $1,000,000 compensation (lump sum) - the younger the victim - more money for a life of rehab and damages.
That sounds like common sense compensation! In the space of a few days, I passed 2 pit bulls, both muzzled, much to my relief because the owners were leaning back, walking awkwardly at the end of metal chains trying to keep their energetic bits of compact muscle and lethal jaws in check. Fat chance.