MONTREAL – If you walked by Mont-Royal metro station Saturday, you may have seen what looked like an over-sized doghouse.
The interactive display was set up by the Montreal SPCA, to draw attention to the plight of dogs in the province that are permanently chained or tethered, which according to the group amounts to a life in prison.
Passersby were invited to interact with dogs that have survived a life of permanent chaining and to learn about their life stories.
While the dogs on site have new families and thus can hope for a happy life, most permanently chained dogs are not so lucky. They are at increased risk of injuring themselves and are frequently neglected, suffering both physically and psychologically.
The SPCA also points out that chaining dogs leads to public safety concerns as permanently restrained animals risk becoming more territorial which can lead to aggressive behaviour. Particularly worrisome is the fact that chained dogs are according to the group, nearly three times more likely to bite than dogs not living on chains and over five times more likely to bite children.
The event was part of the Cut The Chain campaign launched by the SPCA earlier this month.
READ MORE: Montreal SPCA pushes for anti-tethering laws
In June, the Quebec government introduced Bill 54 which the SPCA says includes a number of significant improvements to the province’s animal welfare legislation.
The bill is currently under review, and the SPCA hopes that any amendments to the bill will include strong anti-tethering legislation.
An online letter asking Pierre Paradis, Quebec’s agriculture minister, to ban the permanent chaining of dogs has already garnered more than 11,000 supporters.
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