Ontario really is nuts about pit bulls

I had this comment left on one of my pit bull legislation posts today -

All the "dangerous" dogs will be on the East Coast and in Quebec if this keeps up.

http://www.mississauganews.com/article/23669

Donate $1 so Ontario keeps it`s own "dangerous" dogs.

Damn those google alerts.Can you get addicted?

First, here's the article -

Bowser another Rambo case?

February 3, 2009 02:41 PM - In what is shaping up as a sequel to the Rambo tale, a Mississauga man's puppy might be euthanized or shipped out of province if his owner can't prove he's not a pitbull.

Danny Truong was charged with owning a prohibited animal just before Christmas last year after he took his 10-month-old puppy Bowser to be neutered at a veterinary clinic on Nov. 25.

The 21-year-old said he was shocked three weeks later when City animal services officers came knocking at his home near Square One, charging him under the Dog Owners' Liability Act. Truong said the officers told him that the veterinary clinic had made a complaint.

Truong, who was charged on Dec. 15, made his first appearance in court last Friday. His case was adjourned to Feb. 27, when a date for trial will be set.

Bowser's case is a repeat of Rambo, an alleged pit bull who was shipped out of Ontario to a Nova Scotia home last year after a highly-publicized legal battle.

Rambo's owner, Gabriela Nowakowska, was charged on Christmas Day 2007 when the City's animal control department caught the puppy running loose. Nowakowska pleaded guilty to possessing an illegal dog and was given a suspended sentence on the condition that Rambo would be shipped from the City pound to Nova Scotia.

Truong, visibly upset at the prospect of losing Bowser, said he's being discriminated against based on his dog's appearance.

He said he received Bowser as a gift from his niece and was told by the lady selling the pup that he was a Rottweiler-Boxer mix.

Selma Mulvey, an advocate for dog owners' rights, says dog owners have no way of knowing whether or not they are breaking the law because the legislation is vague.

Mulvey says a pitbull is a slang term and dog owners have no way of knowing how they are violating the law.

"Truong is a responsible owner. He's trained his dog, he's socialized his dog, and he took it to get neutered ... and suddenly he's accused of a serious crime," she said.

Truong says he's never had any problems when taking the dog to the park, pet stores or his regular veterinarian.

"Bowser is very friendly," he said. "Anyone that comes across my dog loves him. He doesn't bite and he's pretty outgoing and jumpy."

So how many wrong things can you find in this article? Number one for me is the fact that this fellow - being a responsible dog owner - takes his puppy in to have him neutered at an appropriate age - and the VET CLINIC TURNS HIM IN TO THE CITY ANIMAL SERVICES. Can you believe that? Who in their right mind after this in Mississauge would take any dog into a veterinary clinic who has a wide browed dog for fear that their veterinarian is going to declare that their dog is a pit bull and turn them into Animal Control? That just blew me away.

This guy says that his dog is a mix of rottweiller and boxer - and I'd tend to believe him. In this photo this dog doesn't really resemble a pit bull to me. I just cannot believe that a veterinrian's office - a place that this man paid money to - would turn him in after he was being a responsible dog owner. I absolutely cannot believe that.

I cannot believe what Ontario has become. If this is happening on a regular basis up there - then Ontario is a province where dog owners have no respect, rights, reason to believe that they can keep their dogs safe, or that that they live in a province that is anything less than a huge gas chamber for their canine life companions.

This news article is absolutely unbelievable. I am speechless if you haven't been able to tell by now. As an aside - Nova Scotia would love to have Bowser - we love all breeds of dogs here. Except for in the district of Municipality of Guysborough though - otherwise known as the Fiefdom of Lloyd Hines.

In other news - the Dog Legislation Council of Canada met it's fundraising goal by January 31st - so they are going to be putting in their Supreme Court Challenge for the pit bull ban in Ontario with Clayton Ruby - so the fight in Ontario is not quite over yet, hopefully.