There are only two days left for owners of pit bull-type dogs to get them registered, leaving some dog owners scrambling

Gena Kona-Mancini has two dogs, both rescues and part of her family.

“They feel like children,” she said.

Kona-Mancini can't determine, however, whether her dogs are pit bulls.

While Buddy looks like a pit bull, it's never been confirmed; she thinks Yoshi is part pit bull, but is unsure.

The city has been running pit bull identification clinics, but Kona-Mancini said she couldn't get an appointment for them or a vet to confirm.

“I have contacted vets and they don't want to ID dogs to you say if they are pit bulls or not,” she said.

She's now scrambling to get an appointment, because after March 31st, owners of pit bull-type dogs that aren't registered could be fined $700 – or worse.

“If you haven’t registered your pit bull after the 1st of April, then your dog can be seized, and then… we'll take care of the dog and try to find another home for him,” said city spokesperson Philippe Sabourin.

The city said it won't euthanize any unregistered pit bull-type dogs, but will remove them from Montreal.

“Where are the dogs going to go if they do get seized?” asked Kona-Mancini.

As many as 1200 pit bull-type dogs have already been registered.

Owners have no excuse to be late, said Mayor Denis Coderre.

“We gave an extra three months, we have been talking about it all summer, there is no surprise,” he said.

After April 1st, Montreal will stop issuing permits to own pit bull-type dogs.
 

Kona-Mancini said she is planning to leave Montreal and move somewhere more accepting of her pets.