Montreal SPCA to end dog control services in protest of pit bull bylaw

The Montreal SPCA is eliminating dog control from the nine boroughs it serves because of the Coderre administration's restrictions on pit bulls.

In a statement Thursday, the animal-welfare organization said borough officials were made aware in September that ifthe city adopted breed-specific legislation it would beforced to take action.

The change goes into effectMarch 31, 2017 the same day Montreal owners of pit bull-type dogs are required to get a special permit.

"This is something that we are forced to do," said SPCA spokesperson Anita Kapuscinska, arguing that Montreal's breed-specific regulations targeting pit bulls are discriminatory and unreasonable.

"We can't be expected to have our staff euthanizing behaviourally sound and healthy animals, simply because of their looks."

The Quebec Court of Appeal overturned a suspension of the pit bull sections of controversial new animal control bylaw earlier this month.

Thecontroversial bylaw bans all newpitbulls, as well as dogs with similar characteristics, from city territory.

The law also places strict rules on current owners ofpitbull-type dogs when walking the animals or keeping them outside the home.

The nine boroughs affected are Ahuntsic-Cartierville, Anjou, Lachine, Plateau-Mont-Royal, MontrealNorth, Cte-des-Neiges, Rosement, the Southwestand Verdun.

Boroughs left with 90 days to find solution

Plateau-Mont-Royalborough councillorChristineGosselin, who is a member of opposition party Projet Montral,said she doesn't blame theSPCAfor this decision. Instead she points the finger at Mayor DenisCoderrefor engineeringthe bylaw.

"It's entirely predictablenegative fallout from the initial misguided decision to ban pit bulls," she said.

Gosselin added that the SPCAis a "wonderful animal service provider," but that the nine boroughs affected "are left in a lurch."

"We have 90 days to figure it out," she said. "We're going to look very hard at other options."

In a statement,RosemontLa Petite-Patriespokeswoman Marie-Claude Perreaultwrote that the boroughhas already stated that it is reaching out the SPCAafter hearing the announcement.

• Deadline to register pit bulls will be extended, Montreal says
• Mayor Denis Coderre says his priority is to protect people, not dogs