Montreal to overhaul rules on 'dangerous dogs'

The City of Montreal is working to come up with a uniform set of rules regarding "dangerous dogs" across its 19 boroughs but won't say if it's leaning toward an all-out ban on any particular breed.

Right now, certain boroughs have stricter rulesthan others, while some have barely any regulations.The city's central administrationwants to change that.

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Councillor Anie Samson is vice-chair of the city's executive committee andis responsible for the animal file.Samsonsaid the city is looking at how to target all dangerous dogs, not just pit bulls, which are often singled out in the debate overpotentially dangerous animals.

Samson said shewants to make it illegal for any animal to be outside without a collar.

It is unclear what qualifies as a dangerous dog.However, pitbulls are often singled out as they are more likely toinitiate unprovoked attacks, and theyinflict the most serious wounds.

A recent report by La Pressefound last summer, at least 20 children were the victims of dog attacks in the Montreal region most often by pit bulls.

Expert panel

Samsonsaid the city has assembled a panel of experts, askingthe paneltodeterminehow best to manage dangerous and abandoned dogs and their owners. It will look at how other big cities have handled the dangerous dog issue.

Nothing has been ruled outincluding a ban, she said. However, Samson cautioned,Ontario banned pit bulls more than a decade ago, butstatistics show dog bites in Toronto have increased.

Samsonsaid she isn't convinced a ban is the answer to loweringbites and wants tofocus more on educating the population and on targeting pet owners who don't abide by the new rules a strategy some animal experts agree with.

"Dangerous dogs come in all shapes and sizes some are tiny, some are large. But what is not going to be helpfulis if we focus on a breed. Let us focus on [an] individual animal's behaviour," said NicholasGilman,executive director of the MontrealSPCA.

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Veterinarian Michel Ppin says measures such asensuring dogs wear tags, obliging some breeds to wear muzzlesand introducing annual behaviour tests for dogs and owners would keeppeople safer than implementing bans.

The city will alsoopen a shelter for dogs and cats governedby the city'srules but run by an independent organization.

The project was announced in 2014andwill be big enough to accommodate thousands of animals.

Both the shelter and new rulesare expected to be in place by 2018.

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