It took him 18 hours but “Tyson” arrived in Halifax from Montreal Saturday, ready to find a happy home and a second chance at life.
“We believe every dog is part of our family and we just want to extend the help-out as much as we can to help them get into a good loving home,” Terri Cooper, founder of Good Bones Dog Rescue, said.
Cooper and her team welcomed Tyson into their dog rescue in an effort to help pit bulls and similar looking breeds, out of shelters in Montreal.
READ MORE: Montreal pit bull owners desperate for help after council passes breed-specific ban
Montreal council voted in favour of a bylaw Tuesday to ban new pit bulls and other “dangerous breeds” from living within city limits, as well as enforcing strict regulations on those already in the city.
“You know in my eyes there really is no dangerous breeds. People say pit bulls are a dangerous breed but a pomeranian could be dangerous, a shih tzu could be dangerous, if that’s the way they were brought up,” Cooper said.
Tyson is an 8-year-old “pittie” that arrived in Halifax after an 18-hour journey from Quebec.
READ MORE: Where can you apply for a special permit to keep your pit bull-type dog in Montreal?
He’s staying in a foster home until the rescue finds adoptive owners that meet his needs.
A rally was held at Cornwallis Park to protest breed-specific legislation.
Dozens of dog owners gathered with their furry companions in an effort to fight stigma towards dogs like pit bulls that are labeled as being “dangerous.”
“I have clients that say people cross the street when they’re walking with their dogs because of the stigma attached to them, they think they’re a dangerous dog,” Guy Lapierre, a dog trainer with Unleashed Potential, said.
READ MORE: ‘He saved my life’: Lasalle woman calls her pit bull a hero
The breeds that are part of Montreal’s new bylaw 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.
For rescue owners of terriers like “Denver”, the message is clear.
Don’t pass judgement on the breeds before you get to know the dog and their owner.
“Meet the dog, learn more about it and appreciate that the dog is an individual like everybody you meet out in your daily life and they’re all different and they all have their own story to tell,” Monica Geske said, Denver’s owner.
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