(h/t Meaghan Edwards)
This is bullshit:
Korinn Seabrook and Sonya Pimentel are desperate to stop Sarnia from euthanizing their puppies, but neither is optimistic they can be saved.
The women, who are friends, each adopted an 11-month-old dog they believe are boxer mixes from a mutual friend.
"Both the mom and the dad are boxer mix. My friend has the papers to prove it," said Seabrook.
But Sarnia animal control officers say the puppies look like Staffordshire bull terriers, a breed that's been illegal to own in Ontario since legislation was passed in 2005 to ban so-called pitbulls.
And this is bullshit:
The city seized the dog and impounded her, initially saying Maddi would be euthanized Thursday. She has since been granted a reprieve until Sept. 10 to give her owners an opportunity to prove she isn't a Staff ordshire bull terrier.
And this is bullshit:
"I don't like it anymore than anyone else," said Loosley [Sarnia's acting deputy clerk]. "But the city has to enforce the provincial legislation."
Animal control officers in Sarnia should be ashamed of themselves for snatching up puppies just so they can kill them.
That bullshit about "But the city has to enforce the provincial legislation" is a weak excuse for whatever the fuck Sarnia animal control calls what they are doing. Identifying a dog as a Pit Bull or a Pit Bull look-a-like is totally up to the discretion of the animal control officer.
From a follow-up article, Pitbull law unevenly applied
“Our [Sarnia] animal control officers have tremendous expertise,” Bradley said. “They are professional and ethical people doing what they believe the law requires.”
About once a month a dog is euthanized in Sarnia as a banned breed.
But just down the road in St. Clair Township, no dogs have ever been euthanized under the law.
Animal control officer Gayle Farr only picks up dogs running at large or causing problems, she said.
“That’s my mandate. It’s not about what the dog looks like. I think the provincial law is wrong. The merit of a dog is its owner.”
Sarnia animal control could learn a thing or two about being professional and ethical from St. Clair Township ACO Gayle Farr.
Update: Looks like three dogs are going to be killed unless someone kicks Sarnia animal control in the head with some compassion and common sense.
Here's the Facebook page.
And, yes, you can thank Michael Bryant for this bullshit.
Update: All three dogs have been returned to owner.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
10 comments:
If the onus is on them to prove their dog is not a "pitbull" or a Staffordshire cross then perhaps spending the money for a dna testing kit is money well spent. Also, how do you have "papers" for a cross breed dog. I thought that you could only get papers for a dog registered as a purebreed with the CCK or the ACK.
This is definitely bull shit indeed.
"They are professional and ethical people" What code of ethics are they talking about here?
Out hunting for puppies to kill is ethical? What a disgrace.
So people of possibly limited education have the right to target dogs based on a subjective assessment of the dog’s looks alone. Me? I have two mixed breed dogs. I only know what they are based on their adoption papers. To other people, my dogs look like whatever they want them to look like. Some recognize similarities to their own dogs. Some mistake them for mother and son simply because of size differential, even thought they are mixes of different breeds and look nothing alike. Some people see the terrier traits in one; some think she looks like Benji because of her expression; others see something else entirely. Some think one's a purebred. Depending on the haircut, some think the poodle’s a terrier and so on. It’s all so very subjective.
Allowing people in authority to make decisions with fatal consequences based on a subjective assessment alone is dangerous and unreasonable. Yes, thank you Michael Bryant.
Don't forget this law has nothing to do with 'breed' (ha ha) and everything to do with 'physical characteristics' and mixed breed dogs being 'substantially similar'. Put aside the fact that you can't use DNA to determine breed in a mutt, despite all the advertising by companies in the States. You CAN use DNA to determine parentage, though.
Since all dogs are substantially similar in physical characteristics (NB: Not looks or breed) to all other dogs, just by virtue of bieng dogs, to say this law is rigged in the Crown's favour is to be overly kind to its authors.
Sarnia is mistaken regarding the onus of enforcing the law being on municipalities. The law is entirely optional - it's not only worded that way )"may", not "shall", "will" or "must"), but the AG's office didn't intend it to be mandatory.
MPP Peter Kormos made a statement regarding municipal participation during one of the many House debates over the legislation. This is an excerpt from Hansard:
"That provoked me to put questions to ministry staff about exactly what the Bill does: "Does the bill require municipalities to participate in this
ill-conceived so-called pit bull ban?" "No; it merely enables them." Oh, I get it: These are the tools in the toolbox"
There's passing the buck, there's being a sniveling coward and there's being unable to interpret what you read.
All I'm interested in is stand-up people who won't enforce this Nazi-style legislation. There are a few cities, including Ottawa, that are in the latter group. I'm pleased to see that I can count St Clair Township among them.
Fred, thanks once again for posting this!
Here is some more damning proof of the cruelty that "man" has inflicted:
http://www.youtube.com/user/honestedits
I'm reminded of The Four Stages of Cruelty.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Four_Stages_of_Cruelty
Meaghan, I just checked out The Four Stages of Cruelty. Not much in the way of human nature has evolved since 1751. Sarnia animal control and Michael Bryant might both want to study that first print carefully for insight into their own souls.
While I don't agree with Sarnia killing dogs, think about what they are doing. They are proving how damn scary this Bill is. And hopefully if they keep it up (using hopefully very loosely) other people may think twice about this ban, more people will realize every dog is at risk, cuz right no people just are getting how dangerous this law is.
And technically anyone who bothers to "buy" a mixed breed dog that is substantially similar to any pit "breed" is in the wrong as they ARE illegal in the province of Ontario. If you want a boxer mix adopt from the shelter or the pound andyou'll most likely be safe otherwise you are forced to buy a purebred CKC/ACK registered dog in order to prove it lineage.
It's sucks but that is the law. I want this law over-turned ASAP as there is no reason people should be allowed to own any dog they wish and for puppies and dogs to be dying everyday based on the way they look.
just wanted to say hi, and thanks, and amen
Nice to hear from you, sdf.
Post a Comment