On Wednesday, Ontario MPP Cheri DiNovo officially proposed a bill that would repeal the provincial ban on 'pit bulls' while dog owners assembled in Queen's Park - many (Like the one pictured left) dawning muzzles because of the existing law requiring them for dogs that were grandfathered in under the ordinance.
She was joined for the ceremony by Lawyer Clayton Ruby. "The craziness is in thinking how you can judge a dog's dangerousness bay how he looks," said Ruby.
DiNovo noted that the government's ban has had no real impact on public safety and has led to the deaths of thousands of dogs since the ban was put in place. "It's a badly drafted piece of legislation," said DiNovo. "All breed specific bans do is harm the owners and the dogs. It's kind of a gudge law. Yes, we should have violent dog legislation, but we should go after the dog, not breed specific stuff."
The Liberal party in Ontario still holds the majority of the seats and Premier Dalton McGuinty says he has no plans to revisit the law, so DiNovo's bill has an uphill climb to get passed. However, it is worth noting that a lot has changed since the bill was passed in 2005. One of the staunchest supporters of the breed ban in 2005 - -then attorney general Michale Bryant - was arrested two months ago after using his car to run over a bicyclist in the streets of Toronto.
Meanwhile, when the bill passed in 2005, there were 44 experts who testified in the initial hearings -- 43 of them opposed the breed specific law. When the ban got sent to court under a plea of it being unconstitutional, Tom Skeldon -- a man that two years later was forced out of his own township for being inadequate at his job -- was the only dog warden in all of North America that Bryant could get to testify about why the bill was needed.
So now, four years later, the biggest proponent of the bill, and his lone "expert" witness, have both been removed from positions of authority -- so the landscape for people opposing the bill has definitely changed.
Best of luck for the dogs and dog owners in Ontario as the bill to repeal their ridiculous law moves forward. More info can be found at Frogdog Blog and more pictures and commentary at One Bark at a Time.
Perhaps you should change the title of your blog post. BSL is not repealed in Ontario, the Bill to repeal BSL has had only its first reading and must go through two more, then be signed by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario before it is effective. I'd hate to see someone think that BSL is over and have their dog grabbed.
Posted by: socialmange | November 21, 2009 at 10:41 AM
You're completely right -- I made the change. I hadn't meant to make it sound like the repeal was a done deal, but clearly I had.
Posted by: Brent | November 21, 2009 at 01:47 PM
The AG used a car to run over a bicyclist? And they dare say Pit Bulls are vicious? Sometimes, a look in the mirror is a good start.
My fingers are crossed for all of the PB lovers and supporters in Ontario. Let's hope that this battle, which will no doubt be a difficult one, will be successful!
Pibble - http://rescuek9.blogspot.com/
Posted by: Pibble | November 23, 2009 at 03:13 PM