The Dog Legislation Council of Canada (DLCC) thinks so – and needs your help. The group, along with members of Banned Aid, are gearing up to take their fight to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Breed-specific legislation (BSL) came to Ontario in the form of Bill 132 and became law as of August of 2005. DLCC President LeeAnn O’Reilly outlines the problem.
“Typically, breed-specific legislation is viewed as laws which restrict or ban certain breeds and mixed breeds of dogs. But this is not the entire truth behind BSL. In reality, it is government telling you under what terms they will allow you to breed, show, rescue, or own regardless of its breed.”
Though Bill 132 singled out ‘pit bulls,’ O’Reilly points out that, “All breeds and mixes are now just a bad news story away, one pen stroke away from being wiped out by our government.”
In response to this the DLCC wants to take its fight against Bill 132 to the Supreme Court of Canada. But they need help, hence the “Dollars for Dogs” campaign, which asks everyone to donate one dollar for every dog in their household. The group needs to raise $67,000 by the end of January.
The fundraiser is already the group’s most successful, raising over $11,000 in less than three days. Generous donations have been pouring in from members of Canada’s purebred fancy, including breeders, judges, breed clubs and more.
Click here to donate via PayPal or learn of other ways to make a financial contribution.
Dogs in Canada would like to thank everyone who has supported this effort, and encourage dog lovers to give generously. This fight affects all of us – and the dogs we love.
Personally, I’m very proud to be a member of the Saluki Club of Canada, who are donating $1,000 to the cause and are challenging other breed clubs to do the same. Thus far the Doberman Club has matched their donation and the Pomeranian Club has pledged $250.
Please feel free to use our comments field as a means of adding not only your thoughts, but recognizing individuals or organizations that have generously supported the fight against BSL.
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Why was the owner soooooooo MEAN 2 HERSHEY!did he kick her out 2 live on the streets Allalloooonewhat if some1 came along & hurt her!!!& abused her!i hav a dog named ollie & shes sooooo sweet i got her from my neighbor!& i couldnt stand there & watch a doggy get hurt by some MEAN person!!!!!its just WRONG!!!!! EVERYtime i see a doggy on the rds i want 2 pick them up & take them 2 a shelter or somethin!!!!I JUST LOVE ANIMALS!!!!!1!!!
Why was the owner soooooooo mean 2 hearshy
My daughter and alot of people i know have pit bulls. they are very nice dogs. Any dog can be mean. They need to ban owers who treat there dogs bad from ever oweing any dog. We treat our dogs with respect and they are friendly towards every one. I dont see them banning small dogs that are mean. Crack down on pet owners who fight there dogs or who beat on there dogs. they are the ones who need to lose there dogs. I dont live in Canada but wanted to travel there with my dogs. If i have to leave my pit home then that means i’d have to leave my other two home also. they are not pits.
Hi, I have a red-nose “pitbull” X that I adopted from a rescue organization. They had her listed as a “red heeler X” for fear of labeling her with the dreaded “pit” label. I have her listed as that for the same reason’s and I don’t even live in Ontario. My girl, Alley Mae, is the sweetest thing dog will ever meet as are most “pitbulls”. We have to do something so that Bill 132 doesn’t become the norm in other provinces. What about harsher laws for people who are convicted of animal cruelty? Now that is a law I could get behind!
No wonder we drink.
Dig deep beer drinkers.
This law MUST be overturned.
http://www.mississauganews.com/article/23669
Our Dogs by David Jeffrey from Canada
A love uncontested, without compromise,
is what we see when we look into our lovely pets
eyes.
The way they adore us, with love to no end,
is the reason we call them Man’s bestfriend.
With tails a wagging and affection to spare,
makes them so easy to cuddle despite all their hair.
We treat them like children and adorn them with toys
trust that they will play and protect,
our own girls and boys.
God gave us dogs so that we may know,
the unconditional love,
that only a pet can show.
Hi there. Well I have never owned a Pit Bull but my brother did…he owned 2 of them. I absolutely love and adore all animals and now have a foster dog part Rotty for sure and Shepherd we think along with my own beautiful 7 yr old Shepherd/Husky mix named Sheba. She is my world and I have been enjoying fostering Honey our Rotty mix.
I do not believe any certain dog is dangerous….it is due to terrible, heartless, irresponsible, uncaring, tortuous, destructive owners. If we could jail all the people who have wronged an animal, any animal…for the “fun” of it or profit of it….justice would be served !!! Instead our government chooses to place blame on these poor, innocent animals who are trained since birth to destroy, harm, mutilate etc etc…well any one knows dogs are loyal to their owners and families. So of course they will listen to whoever trains them whether with love or hate/evil. Dogs do not realize they are doing wrong..just making their owners happy and proud.
Please I am begging the government to please reconsider and remove this banning of Pit Bulls and all other dog specific breed bans. IT IS NOT THE DOGS FAULT FOR THEIR ACTIONS, GO AFTER THEIR OWNERS FOR THE MENTAL CRUELTY AND DESTRUCTION THEY CAUSE. PUT THE BLAME WHERE IT BELONGS !!!!
I urge everyone to please help and make this happen for “OUR family members and our friends … the dogs”. They need your help asap….please if we all unite and stand up for our best friends, we can make a change for the better and get rid of this and any future dog specific bans of this nature.
Place a donation asap…time is running out to fight this….please no matter what amount you can afford…please even if you do not own a dog right now…think about the future of pets in general for families and donate right now
Lets stop this , I have friends with “Pitbulls” and they are the nicest dogs you could ever encounter.
How can they justify banning a dog , ban unfit owners ban puppy mills don’t ban a breed for being owned by unfit people.
We challenge the OVMA membership to donate $1 or more for every dog they treat in the month of January.
Show your clients the money!
We challenge all Beer Drinkers to donate the cost of 1 case of Beer to help your best friends.
Who`s always sitting beside you when you`re crying in your beer?
Your dog.
Now it`s our time to help them.
If I didn’t have a dog……
……I would not have to answer the Question why do I have a Dog, from people who will never
have the joy in there life, of knowing they are
Loved unconditionally by something as close to an angel as they will ever get.
Who else has a friend that considers you the MOST important thing in the whole wide world all the time?
Author unknown.
WE CAN’T AFFORD NOT TO DO OUR PART.
No amount is to small, but we have to stand up and make our voice heard. Only if we Work together we can make a stop to this! Please donate!
Thank you to everyone who donated money to help keep BSL at bay. I personally do not like BSL, because to me there is not such thing as a bad dog, it is a bad owner. People who leave their dogs tied up in the back yard or just out in the back yard and do not interact with them should not even have dogs.
Also, to make a good dog, there is training and socialization that needs to happen - or the dog will turn out aggressive.
I have met dozens of dogs in my lifetime, and I must say I have enjoyed a majority of the encounters. I have had some close calls with pit bulls, but I have also seen some that are friendly as can be. What it comes down to is how the dog is raised. If the dog is raised in a friendly atmosphere, it will be calm and friendly. If it is raised in a fighting atmosphere, then it will fight other dogs and will take months to years to rehabilitate. Just ask the fine folks at Dog Town, I am sure they will tell you all about the hard work that went in to rehabilitating Vicks dogs.
So remember folks, before you get a dog, be sure that along with the food, grooming and vet bills, be sure and include some obedience and socialization classes too. Your dog will thank you for it.
Thanks everyone for standing together KEEP it up its not over
yet
The ….dog, in life the finest friend,the first to welcome, foremost to defend.
by lord Bryon
Time to defend them !!!
Good Luck Canada with your fight. We have tail docking banned and certain breeds are not allowed into Australia or those here, bred with. There really is no bad dog, just bad owners…
It warms my heart to see the response of dog clubs and owners to the Banned Aid Coalition’s plea, let’s keep it going folks! It would be such a shame to have come this far. To have spent over $600 000.00 only to be stopped short because the government uses taxpayer dollars to defend a badly written law while dog owners beg for donations, sell t-shirts and take out personal loans.
This is a bad law, plain and simple. Ontario kills puppies. Ontario would kill my dogs if I dared to try to travel through there, having done nothing wrong at all except exist in their body type. I never thought I would see the day I, a law abiding, taxpaying citizen of Canada, couldn’t travel freely through my own country. It has really broken my heart and shattered my image of this country’s political system and rights and freedoms.
Thank you Alison. Thank you Dogs in Canada and CKC for standing up for the rights of Canadian dog owners. Thank you donors. I only hope that donations continue to pour in so that the legal challenge can continue to the Supreme Court. For the sake of all dogs and the right to have them, this law can not be allowed to stand.
I really must speak my mind after four years of unravelling hell. What does it matter if the Staffordshire bull terrier has no APBT blood in it? Some people still don’t get, honestly.
I am a member of the Staffordshire bull terrier club and I don’t even own one, but love the dogs. Lets get one thing clear here and now. The American pit bull terrier is every bit as good a dog as the Staffy. They are not different. Period. Fact is the bull and terriers are all very closely related. They were all once one in the same and even if they are no longer what does that matter? Focusing on breed standards, finger pointing, and shifting blame has no place here.
None of the purebreds belong in this situation. We proved that in court. Lastly, Dogs in Canada did not make that statement about pitbulls, the writer of the article did. Thank you to Mr. Allison and Dogs in Canada.
Great post, Allison! Thanks to DiC and the CKC for their ongoing support.
It’s thrilling to see how many clubs and people have stepped up to help us this week as we get ready to take this battle to the Supreme Court of Canada.
This law was never about ‘pit bulls’ - there’s no such thing as a ‘pit bull’, which they well know. It was about testing to see how far they could go, how much people would stand for in terms of having their rights eroded before they’d stand up and say ‘No’. The dogs are just a distraction and all the dogs they’ve seized and killed, the owners they’ve charged - they are all just hapless mutts with short hair.
If this law stands, no dog owner is safe. No dog is safe. Actually, if this law stands no owner of any kind of property at all is safe.
Thanks again to one and all - let’s keep the heat on and win one for the Nipper!
As someone who fights for the “pit-bull” type breed in all I have I find it remarkable that the truth about BSL has finally come to light.
I thank you, my cousin for allowing others to open there eyes to a world than many, even involved with dogs may not have known.
The truth of BSL is not as cut and dry as the politicians have made it and therefore cannot be something that we, the public, allow without effect. Your dog may too live in this world next:
Our “community” as I would call it is faced with the discrimination and everyday ignorance all because our dogs and our friends dogs are forced, by no other means, to wear a muzzle and the general public then flags them as being “dangerous”.. or the famous saying said to a child.. “Oh no sweety, you cannot pet THAT dog”… That is our sad reality.
The “Is your Dog worth a $1?” campaign has brought the attention that our breed has so long been fighting for. Thank You supporters. Thank You Allies. Thank You Dogs in Canada. And hopes to joining the Dutch in there recent choice to end BSL.
On behalf of the DLCC , I thank DIC for publishing this article and being the constant source of support throughout the years.
This isn’t about ” pit bulls” for as we know there is no such breed.
It is about people who love their dogs,love their rights to be free to choose whatever dog they wish to share their home with.
Its about government telling responsible dog owners, you are going to pay the price because of the misdeeds of VERY VERY FEW people who own a dog that looks like yours.
Its about government using dogs to now say junk science,media propelled myths and hack ‘experts” are facts enough to take away ownership rights of anything you own and love.
The dog world in Canada is sending a message to any governement that may be considering about tossing our rights out the window.
IT IS THE OWNERS NOT THE DOGS .WE WILL NOT SACRIFICE ONE MORE DOG TO YOU !
The CKC protects our canine diversity and is given that power by the federal government,under the Pedigree Act.
To allow government on the province level,to make EXTINCT three beautiful breeds is unforgivable.
STAND UP,MAKE A PLEDGE TO THE DLCC so we can take this battle to our highest court.
As the Chair of Events for the Dog Legislation Council of Canada;
from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much to everyone who is participating in this out pour of support!
Excellent post Allison. Thanks to both you and Kelly for your ongoing support.
Beautiful tribute to Hersey. I have met Hershey.. She is a beautiful old soul.
I lost both my geezers in the past couple months at 14 and 14 1/2 yrs; and let me tell you having old dogs and loosing them with a ban in place hurts like a double whammy. Knowing there is a law in place preventing getting another is heartbreaking. We must overturn this law and with everyone’s help this is possible!
I’m off to link to this on Wag The Dog.. The DLCC blog.
I never thought I would see the day when a Province of elected persons could tell the public what breeds of dogs they could and could not have in their lives and homes. It is really bad when a MPP goes on life T.V and proudly points to a German Sheppard and states that it is a BAND BREED. I, like a lot of other people pay my TAXES and with what is left over we Pay to go to the CKC dogs shows where we show the public just what wonderful dogs we have. It is about time when this province really shook it’s elective head and PUNSHED THE DEED - NOT THE BREED.. If we don’t stop this here and now there will be no dogs left anywhere some day. Think about it. Support DLCC give what you can.
I would love to see this blog forwarded around Canada to as many people as it can reach. Despite the fact that some breeds were not mentioned it puts, in a nutshell, the information that we need to pass on to people.
Forward it, encourage people to donate and support those that are fighting so hard to let us keep our dogs - of any breed.
The figure has increased since your update to $23,486!!! Keep up the good work everyone. The challenge is on……more is needed and it does affect YOU, every single one of you who owns a dog. The future of dog ownership in Ontario and in the rest of Canada can be decided in this battle.
This blog is good but not complete. Not only did bill 132 ban pit bulls but it also banned the loveable Staffordshire Bull terrier which the Dogs in Canada magazine of May 2005 stated “There is absolutely no APBT blood in this breed.” The staffie bull has one of the best records around. If this wonderful breed, know for its love of children, with its great reputation, can be banned, well, then any breed can be.
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