Thursday, January 24, 2008

Canada Town to Put Down Pitbull


Found this article on zootoo.com. Unbelievable that this stuff happens! Are people that naive about dog breeds? Apparently so!
by Matt Van Hoven

MISSISSAGUA, Ontario – A Canadian woman's pit-bull-mix could be euthanized because of a 2005 law that bans pit bulls and “substantially similar” dogs from the Canadian province of Ontario.

Gabriela Nowakowska says she bought 10-month-old Rambo a few months ago at a flea market.

So on Christmas when the dog got out of Nowakowska's back yard and was picked up by animal control, it came to light that the she was violating that law – although she didn't know it.

Now the City of Mississagua says that either the dog be turned over to them for euthanasia or Nowakowska will need to pursue legal action. But she says she can't afford a lawsuit.

Twenty-year-old Nowakowska says she has been able to raise about $500, which should be enough to get the dog out of “jail” pending trial

The law that's gotten Rambo into this mess was passed by Premier of Ontario, Dalton McGuinty in 2005. The charge for that law was lead by another man, MP Michael Bryant. Interestingly, one Canadian source said that when Bryant was given 24 pictures of different dogs and asked to locate a pit bull, he chose a photo of a Preso Canario.

As for Rambo, it's been reported that employees at the animal control center where he's being held play with the dog regularly. Nowakowska backed that point, noting that the dog, which is a mixed-breed, is very gentle. We were unable to find any evidence that the dog has even been involved in any attacks.

Rambo's vet says it's hard to pinpoint exactly which breeds belong to the dog's heritage. The vet also said it's unclear exactly how old the dog is, but it seems to be around the 10-month mark.

All that aside, animal welfare groups and local Ward counsellors Pat Saito and Carolyn Parrish have stepped in to defend Rambo, citing the unclear wording of the law and the unfair nature of a breed ban.

Saito said dogs should be judged on their behavior, not their lineage.

Nowakowska says she's pushing to get Rambo back, and will only consider having him turned over to a rescue outside Ontario once she has exhausted the alternatives. Meantime, counsellors Saito and Parrish are working to get the dog a 24-hour reprieve for travel out of the province should he need to be relocated. That's because there's a travel ban on all pit bulls in the province, except those that are grandfathered in.

It seems unlikely that Nowakowska will get Rambo back considering overturning the law is no small undertaking. However, this is not the first time a pit bull has been booted from the province. Another dog named Bandit was relocated to Washington State not long ago. He now serves as a K-9 officer there.

Trackposted to Blog @ MoreWhat.com, Big Dog's Weblog, Rosemary's Thoughts, Wolf Pangloss, Dumb Ox Daily News, and A Newt One, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

19 comments:

Pet and The Bengal Brats said...

Matt
If she has a paypal,Id kick in a few bucks to help.
Pet

Pit Bulls, Mermaids and Leprechauns said...

You can help!

Please let the mayor and the city of Mississauga know how you feel about killing innocent dogs based on the way they look. PLEASE let the Attorney General know how you feel about this law.
You can donate to the legal fund fighting BSL in Ontario as well.

Here is the contact info:

Attorney General Chris Bentley

www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/contactus.asp

Mississauga Council

f you can send paper instead of e-mail, even better. A fax machine can't be set to filter messages, and Canada Post doesn't discriminate by subject.

If you e-mail, change the (at) to the @ symbol. The (at) is to fool bots looking for e-mail addresses.

Here are the addresses for the City Councillors and the Mayor of Mississauga:

Her Worship Mayor Hazel McCallion: mayor(at)mississauga.ca
Office of the Mayor
City of Mississauga, 300 City Centre Drive, Mississauga, Ontario L5B 3C1
Fax: (905) 896-5879

Councillor Carmen Corbasson: carmen.corbasson(at)mississauga.ca

Councillor Patricia Mullin: pat.mullin(at)mississauga.ca

Councillor Maja Prentice maja.prentice(at)mississauga.ca

Councillor Frank Dale: frank.dale(at)mississauga.ca

Councillor Eve Adams: eve.adams(at)mississauga.ca

Councillor Carolyn Parrish: carolyn.parrish(at)mississauga.ca

Councillor Nando Iannicca: nando.iannicca(at)mississauga.ca

Councillor Katie Mahoney: katie.mahoney(at)mississauga.ca

Councillor Pat Saito: pat.saito(at)mississauga.ca

Councillor Sue McFadden: sue.mcfadden(at)mississauga.ca

Councillor George Carlson: george.carlson(at)mississauga.ca

City of Mississauga, 300 City Centre Drive, Mississauga, Ontario L5B 3C1
Fax: 905-615-4081

Janice Baker, City Manager - city.manager(at)mississauga.ca
Fax 905-615-3376

BANNED AID

www.bannedaid.com

Here is the bank account that Gabriela has set up for Rambo:

TD BANK Branch 004

06246273559 (account)
13402 (transit)


Let your voice be heard!

Anonymous said...

This is a sad story. It's a shame that humans are so quick to put down animals because they don't "fit" in what we consider acceptable. They are only being themselves.

Dave
http://dog-obedience-training-101.blogspot.com/

Jan said...

Dog owners really need a strong organization to fight for the rights of dogs. The animal rights organizations do the opposite.

Matt said...

Jan,
Excellent point! So, are you volunteering to be the president of such organization?

Pit Bulls, Mermaids and Leprechauns said...

There is one. It is the Dog Legislation Council of Canada, and the Banned Aid Coalition.

Banned Aid: www.bannedaid.com

DLCC:www.doglegislationcouncilcanada.org

No BSL said...

I`m glad to see more blogs bringing attention to Rambo`s plight and the Ontario Legal Challenge to the Law.
Thank you for that.

I`d like to add a few things and post a small update on Bandit.

[quote]Another dog named Bandit was relocated to Washington State not long ago. He now serves as a K-9 officer there.[/quote]

I was involved in sending Bandit to LawDogs.
Bandit was sent as a LawDogs Recruit which means he had some initial testing done in Ontario and underwent further testing in Washington.

We were notified that Bandit did not have the extreme focus required when presented with distractions during further testing in Washington.(Very few do)
He will not become a working K9 with LawDogs.

But not to worry,Bandit is going to be placed as a family pet with someone that loves him very much.He is a great dog!

Ontario hopes to find and send another Recruit someday.Very few make it to the K9 stage.
Ontario does have K9 Neville in LawDogs.

[quote]Interestingly, one Canadian source said that when Bryant was given 24 pictures of different dogs and asked to locate a pit bull, he chose a photo of a Presa Canario.[/quote]

There is actually a clip of this.I have this and I did have it on my blog.I was told to remove it due to copyright(plus it is very embarrassing for the Ontario Fiberals).
Many of us have tried to license this clip but we have been told it is for home viewing only.

It would almost be funny if thousands of dogs hadn`t already been slaughtered because of Michael Bryant.
These were not just 24 mix breed dogs.
These were 24 Pure Breed dogs.

[quote]We were unable to find any evidence that the dog has even been involved in any attacks.[/quote]

He has not.
Rambo is on death row simply because he is an "illegal" puppy.

Any puppy/dog born after Nov 30,2005 deemed to be one of the banned Pure Breeds or a "substantially similar" dog is to be slaughtered in Ontario.They are prohibited/illegal.

Presently there are 3 banned Pure breeds in Ontario
They are the
1)Staffordshire Bull Terrier
2)American Staffordshire Terrier
3)APBT
and
all "substantially similar" dogs.

Dogs born prior to Nov 30/05 are grandfathered and restricted.

[quote]It seems unlikely that Nowakowska will get Rambo back considering overturning the law is no small undertaking.[/quote]

Rambo`s case is not about overturning the law and will not have that effect even if she wins.

The challenge to the Law is in the Ontario Superior Appeal Court and that will be heard later this year.
www.bannedaid.com

We hope people will donate to the Ontario Law challenge so that other people don`t have to fight to save their dogs on a case per case basis.

Rambo`s owner and lawyer must prove that he is not one of the prohibited/illegal dogs which is no small feat.
This is a municipal case to simply save this particular dog.

There are many other similar cases underway in Ontario at this time.

I apologize for the long post.
We all had our paws crossed for Bandit but it was not to be.
He will be a love bug.

Anonymous said...

I've been reading some of this, what they are thinking..they are dogs what they are expect... they are really naive..

M_Kashif said...

nice work man. my comments are also here.

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