It's been a tough year for some of Montreal's pet owners, said the SPCA as it held its annual group dog walk fundraiser on Mount Royal Sunday.
Owners now have to buy permits or tags for their cats and dogs.
So far this year, 45,000 tags have been issued and 214 tickets have been given to pet owners for not having the right tag or for animals being off-leash.
There have also been more than 2,000 requests for permits to own a pit bull type dog.
The SPCA says Montreal unfairly targets pit bulls with its new bylaw - even well-behaved animals - and doesn't deal with other potentially dangerous dogs
“What we're doing right now is because we're unable to properly identify which dogs may or may not be targeted by the city of Montreal,” said SPCA Montreal spokesperson Anita Kapuscinska. “We have stopped adopting out dogs over 10 kilograms within the city of Montreal because we simply don't want a dog later on to be seized by the city because of the way they look.”
The pit bull bylaw came in response to the fatal mauling of Christiane Vadnais. On June 9, 2016, 55-year-old Vadnais was attacked and killed by a neighbour’s dog when the dog got through a fence.
The dog's owner was not charged in the case after the prosecutor cited a lack of evidence.
Vadnais's family feels the Montreal bylaw is an appropriate response; her sister Lise said people have to come to grips with what a pit bull type dog can do and added that because of the new rules, people are less afraid to walk in the streets and parks.
“We love dogs, and all animals, but we don’t want to be afraid when we walk in the town and when we walk in Montreal,” she said.“I want us to choose our breeds of dogs for ourselves, that's what our future is. It’s a matter of our future.”
Montreal's pit bull bylaw is still being challenged in court, while Quebec's proposed provincial ban on pit bulls is being studied.
