Aspects of Montreal’s controversial pit bull bylaw may have been suspended by a judge on Wednesday but Mayor Denis Coderre said an appeal will be coming.
“This is the rule of law. There’s a process, you have a judge who is making an interpretation of what he has in front of him, he’s looking at both arguments,” said Coderre. “After that, what are we going to do? Say, ok, you’re right, that’s it that’s all? Or, we disagree on some of the facts and some of the implications of the bylaw itself and appeal? So, we’re going to do that.”
Coderre defended the bylaw as it was written in an open letter to citizens, saying it would not have affected current owners, who would have been grandfathered in.
"I've tried to have a balanced approach. There are good dogs, there are good owners, there are good pit bulls, but they have to fulfill some conditions."
Opposition councillors were happy to point out this is the fourth time the mayor and the city's position has been overruled by the courts.
Sterling Downey was among those calling for the city to give up a court challenge to the injunction.
"What are we going to do, keep spending taxpayers' dollars to fight in court things that we could have taken the time to do properly?" said Downey.
Opposition councillors are also calling for the resignation of Anie Samson, the Executive Committee member responsible for Public Security.
The mayor also took exception to activists who compared the bylaw to the Holocaust or Rwandan genocide and said that despite a very vocal outcry from dog owners and animal rights activists, his bylaw had popular support.
"The vast, vast majority understand what we're doing," he said. "Those prevention tools, not only for pit bulls but for dangerous dogs, were accurate and doing it the right way."
The SPCA has argued that breed-specific bans have not been successful in reducing the number of overall dog bites, although the activist group makes no distinction regarding the type of injury incurred.
Coderre acknowledged that there may be truth to that, and said he is aware of five studies, three of which say the bans don't work and two which say they do.
"Do you think you have science on your side because it's three to two?" he said. "Because they say what you think? Or are you saying that we have to go further but clearly the status quo isn't acceptable and not doing anything isn't acceptable."
Meanwhile Coderre reminded people that Montreal is going to stop relying on outside companies such as the SPCA and Berger Blanc to handle animal control services.
Construction on the city's Animal Control Centre (CSAM) is scheduled to begin next year and it should open in 2018. It will be a shelter for stray animals, act as an adoption centre, and offer veterinary services.
