City council reconvened at Montreal City Hall Tuesday and voted in favour of a bylaw banning new pit bulls and other so-called “dangerous breeds” from living within city limits and enforcing strict regulations on those already living in the city.
Among the targeted breeds are Staffordshire bull terriers, American pit bull terriers, American Staffordshire terriers, a mix with these breeds, and dogs that show characteristics of any of the mentioned breeds.
The new regulation was tabled in August by Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre’s party following a series of dog attacks, including a fatal one involving Christine Vadnais, 55, who was killed in her backyard.
READ MORE: ‘Zero tolerance for dog attacks’: Montreal imposes strict animal rules, focuses on pit bulls
According to Councillor Marvin Rotrand, the debate did very little to change anyone’s mind.
Those who publicly came out against the bylaw, argued the burden of enforcing the new rules would be passed down to the boroughs.
In an interview Sunday, Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre said that eight inspectors had already been trained to help ensure boroughs can in fact implement the new regulations.
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“I think this is the way to make sure that we are secure, we feel secure and we provide the tools to make that regulation apply,” he said.
READ MORE: Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre maintains pit bull bylaw is fair
That is something councillor Sterling Downey took issue with wondering why resources weren’t allocated to enforce current laws.
https://twitter.com/NavneetPall/status/780801258533847040
Opposition party members also urged fellow councillors to vote according to their conscience – not party lines – reiterating that breed-specific legislation was not the answer.
https://twitter.com/NavneetPall/status/780803752315981824
Projet Montréal councillors who oppose the bylaw said they will respect council’s decision but they did raise concerns over the bylaw’s ambiguity.
While they may have conceded defeat Tuesday, the battle isn’t over according to councillor Marvin Rotrand.
“The work to win amendments begins Wednesday,” he said in a tweet.
The Montreal SPCA which has also been a vocal opponent of the bylaw said they’ll stop providing dog-control services to the nine Montreal boroughs and three other on-island municipalities it serves in 2017, if a city-wide ban is adopted.
READ MORE: Montreal artist teams up with SPCA to counter anti-pit bull sentiment
The organization said it was disappointed with the results of Tuesday’s vote, but not surprised.
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