Montreal pit bull owners still unclear on how to prove a dog's breed

Some Montreal dog owners say they still don't know how the registration process for apitbull permit will workless than a week before the proposedrules are expected to come into effect.

Owners of American pit bull terriers, American Staffordshire terriers andStaffordshire bull terriers, or mixes of these breeds, will be required to obtain a special $150 licence and comply with other restrictionsto keep their dogs.

But the bylaw saysdogs that share "several morphological characteristics" with these breeds must also obtain the licence.

The new rules are expected to come into effect Oct. 3, but dog owners will have until the end of the year to get the licence.

MontrealerMireilleGoulet said herdogs are registered as the breeds she thinks resemble them most closely: a Patterdale terrier and a Dalmatian-Boxer cross, respectively.

"They're just mutts with short hair and medium size," shesaid. "I have no way of knowing what they are because I adopted them from shelters in the United States."

She's concerned that a municipal inspector might consider them to bepitbulls.

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Bylaw unclear

The bylaw proposaldoes not indicate what documentationowners can use to prove a breed, nor does itlist which characteristics the dog must have to be considered a pitbull type.

A wide jaw and neck are possibilities, according to AnieSamson, Montreal executive committee member.

"Specialists across the world have defined this, whether in Europe, the United States or Canada," said Samson, in response to a question fromGouletat city council last month."Clearly a chihuahua and a pitbull type don't exactly have the same build."

But Gouletsaid this doesn't clear up how dog owners are expected to prove thebreed at the moment of registration, and said multiplecalls to the municipal hotline 311 have left her without answers.

"They just say to call back later, that there will be more information on their website," she said. "When I ask 'when?' they don't know."

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Honour system

Owners aren't currently required to bringtheir dogs with them when they are registered, according toLucie Guindon, manager of AnimalExpertMaisonneuve, a pet store in the Ville-Marie borough where dog owners can obtainlicences.

"It's really on the good faith of the owner," said Guindon. "It's not in the owner's interest to liebecause if they get caught, their licence is no longer valid."

While eight boroughs currently allow some pet stores and veterinary offices to issue permits, Mayor Denis Coderre said Thursday that pit bull registrations will be done at Accs Montral offices. Hours vary by borough.

For other dogs and for cats,you can still pick up the tags at some pet stores and veterinaryoffices in certain boroughs.

• Full details on registration locations and hours are on the City of Montreal's website

New inspectors

Coderresaid the city is also adding eight new inspectors to enforce the bylaw.They will betrained in how to identify different breeds, butCoderredid not specify what that involves.

A team of private contractorshired by the city this summerhanded out more 900 tickets over the previous two months to owners with unregistered dogs, or dogs that weren't on a leash.

That extra enforcement prompted a shortage of dog tags at some locations, as owners scrambled to get their registration uptodate.

"We went from 20,000 to 31,000 registered dogs," he said.

But opposition Projet MontralCoun.Sterling Downey is skeptical that eight new inspectors are enough.

Hesaid the death of 55-year-oldChristianeVadnais, mauled by a dog that had previously bitten at least two people, shows the city struggles to enforce the rules already on the books.

• 'I saw blood, and the dog was still attacking her,' says man who witnessed neighbour's mauling

"Why weren't these bylaws enforced? Why wasn't this dog seized and evaluated?" Downey asked.

"Where did the application of the current system fail? Before we implement a new one, we have to figure out where the other onefailed."

• Projet Montral vows to vote against pit bull bylaw