Pit bull owner and trainer says breed-specific ban not the answer

John Truss says he got his first pit bull when he was 20-years-old because he thought it would be "cool."

"I was a young guy. You want a bit of an image like that," hetold CBC Montreal's Daybreakon Wednesday.

The father of a 17-month-old childnow has five purebredpit bulls and operates a dog training service.

He's come a long way since then andacknowledges that cool image is whatmotivates many "problem owners" of pit bulls, and he sayssuch owners need to be subjected to stricter laws.

However, Truss saysbanning the dogs is not the answer.

Calls have been mounting for municipal bans and even a Quebec-wide prohibitionon pit bulls after the mauling death ofMontrealerChristianeVadnaisby what police say was apit bull in her backyard last week.

• Family of Montreal woman mauled by dog wants Quebec-wide pit bull ban
• What are the options when it comes to regulating dogs?

Advocates of aQuebecban point to Ontario, which enacted a province-wide ban on pit bulls in 2005.

A number of Quebec municipalities have already introduced bans on pit bulls and related breeds.

On Tuesday, the City of Brossard introduced a motion to ban the dogs in response to an attack on young girl in a local park last year.

While acknowledging that there is a problem with dangerous dogs, Truss sees biggerproblems with bans.

"How do we determine if it's a pit bull,"he asked.

"Pit bull mixes covers a huge part of the dog population."

The right approach, he believes, is strict regulations, licensing and fines.

"Owners need to be held responsible. There should be stricter fines,a lot of enforcement,"he said.

Pit bulls are "extremely human-friendly," dog trainer says

8 years ago

Duration 0:55

Dog trainer and pit bull owner John Truss says John Truss has five pit bulls and says his dogs are like family.

'Good family pets as any dog'

His early view of the pit bull as a status symbol quickly evolved into a deep respect for the dogs.

"Once I realized what incredible dogs they are, I started training them, taking them in public, making sure they're normal. I realized they're just dogs," he said.

"They're just as a capable of being good family pets as any dog," he said.

He never leaves his child alone with the dogs,but that's more on principlenotbecause they're pit bulls, he said.