So a landslide happened last night for the liberals here in Nova Scotia - obviously the people here wanted something different and new to happen in the next four years in the political landscape and the people of Nova Scotia decided that the Liberal party was the group that they wanted to make that happen.
The dog owners of Nova Scotia want the Liberal Party to know though that we are tired of the status quo - and we also want to let them know that we will not let them do what the Liberal Party did to Ontario - bring bsl to the entire province.
We know that they have put out a statement saying they won't do that - but in previous statements they've said that they believe municipal governments should be able to write their own legislation - and in Nova Scotia - that's where most bsl lives - in municipalities bylaws.
The Municipal Government Act contains bsl - and all it takes to enact bsl is to write it into your town's dog bylaw - and BOOM - your dog is DEAD. Right here in Nova Scotia.
And currently - the Liberal government is okay with that - because they think it's okay for municipalities to write their own legislation.
It's my personal assertion that bsl needs to be REMOVED from the Municipal Government Act - but for some reason no one seems to agree with me. Go figure.
As well - just agreeing that they won't bring in bsl isn't good enough for this new administration when it comes to animal welfare - in the next four years - the issue of tethering dogs - funding animal cruelty properly - NEEDS to be addressed.
So Mr. McNeil - the dog owners are watching what the Liberal government is doing - and we are watching what a certain MLA from Guysborough-Eastern Shore-Tracadie is doing VERY VERY closely. You can bet on that.
And we look forward to working with your government, and creating win-win situations wherever we can.
Might help to work backwards and see where Justin Trudeau stands on BSL...just a thought.
ReplyDeleteForgive my ignorance, what is bsi?
ReplyDeleteBSL is "breed specific legislation" - it's when you put a law in place outlawing a certain breed - usually pit bulls, or rottweillers - but sometimes it can also be a lot of breeds - I believe there are places in Italy that have banned more than 100 breeds of dog - so it can get really ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteIt's declaring that a dog is dangerous or vicious based solely on how they look - not by anything that they've ever done - it's like saying that all black people are dangerous simply because some black people like to join gangs in California - or that all Muslims are bad because they knocked down the World Trade Centre - I think you'll agree that just is NOT true!
Dogs are just like humans and have to be treated like individuals - so when it comes to legislation - it has to be based on how responsible the owner has been regarding his dog - and how that particular dog has acted throughout his lifetime - and how serious the incident that has brought him to the attention of the authorities was - and then go from there.
That's what legislation needs to be focused around - NOT simply how a dog looks.