This article appeared today in the New London (Ontario) Free Press. Ontario passed provence wide BSL last year, and it turns out that New London is using more than a few resources trying to enforce it.
According to the report, Pit Bulls make up about 4% of the 25,000 licensed dogs in New London, but make up about 25% of their animal control calls....accounting for nearly $200,000 in animal control costs.
But apparently a lot of the calls for "pit bulls" turn out to not be other breeds of dogs...."People are spotting dogs that are not necessarily pit bulls" said city manager Jay Stanford.
Stanford said he expect the problem to remain for "a number of years yet".
This is a city of 350,000 people, paying nearly $200,000 a year enforcing it's pit bull legislation. One has to ask, is answering calls about pit bulls (that may or may not be pit bulls) worth Animal Control's time vs spending this time answering calls about dogs that might be dangerous (regardless of breed)? What other dogs are allowed to roam free that they aren't getting at this point? If the city were to spend $200,000 to improve public safety, would dogs be its first spend?
When people push for breed specific legislation, they almost never have any concept of how much money and resources it costs to enforce. And sadly, no one is at all safer because of this. In fact, it's quite the opposite.
From personal experience, I can tell you that London (Ontario) is a waste of space, for the most part. 'The forest city' leaves a lot to be desired in how it deals with dogs (or people, for that matter).
It's a very, very small town, in spirit. (For instance, there is a "neat & tidy" by-law requiring hedges, etc., to be "maintained". And it IS enforced!)
London passed it's own 'pit bull' restrictions, aside from the provincial ban.
Posted by: Marjorie | July 12, 2007 at 07:31 PM
London claimed to have over 300 unlicensed 'pit bulls' in March, 2006. I mocked them in a blog post at that time. Maybe the Freep just reruns old news to fill space and mention 'pit bulls', since we've pretty much proven that they don't exist. London is heavy Ontario Liberal territory.
Animal Control has been actively harassing dog owners, showing up on doorsteps because they thought they saw a 'pit bull' in the window, threatening to confiscate 'pit bulls' (whatever they may be) and generally acting like the Tin Pots they are.
Quite frankly, while I've always licensed my dogs, in the current climate in Ontario and especially in Tin Pot Towns such as London, Windsor, Pembroke, Brantford and others, I might think twice about licensing, especially if I had a media darling as a pet.
That's another byproduct of BSL - rather than getting responsible owners onside and therefore supporting the control of the incompetent as we see in Calgary, it breeds a climate of fear, turns otherwise fine people into pariahs and second-class citizens, pits neighbour against neighbour and results in less support for the offices burdened with keeping the peace, dogwise.
It's a total waste of time and effort, as is proven on a daily basis.
And yes, Marjorie, London, despite its self-advertised squeaky clean image, has a well entrenched criminal underbelly, has had dogfighting rings busted in the past and is generally a place I used to call 'Sin City' before I preferred the Tin Pot Town designation.
All style, no substance, just like our esteemed Attorney General.
Welcome to Ontaristan, where equal rights are a thing of the past and discrimination is the order of the day.
Posted by: Caveat | July 13, 2007 at 09:10 AM