Dog attacks: How courts decide on euthanization

Dog attacks lead to high-profileeuthanizationcasesseveral times a year in B.C..

ARichmond woman, for example,was bitten 100 times ina dog attack on December30that left herin critical condition.

The rottweiler-husky crossbreed's owner, LucasMacNeil,says he willdefend his pet, which could be put down as a result of the attack.

Sowhat exactlygoes into that deliberation?And what gives a governmentthe power to euthanize an animal owned and cared for by one of its citizens?

After the animal is seized, the municipality can apply to have it labeled a dangerous animal under theCommunity Charter. Thatdistinctionwill be given ifany of three conditions are met:

• The animal has seriously injured or killed a human
• An animal control officer believes the animal islikely to seriously injure or kill a person
• The animal has seriously injured or killed another animal

Troy DeSouza, a partner at DominionGovLaw, has been involved inmany such cases.

"There aregoingto be some [owners]that will fight you tooth and nail and if that's the case, a localgovernmentcan't arbitrarilyeuthanizea dog if they know who the owner is, they have to goto court."

With the dangerousanimal distinction comes thepossibilityofeuthanasia, and that decision rests with a provincial court judge.

DeSouzasaysthe legislationis partially based on the notion that if animal acts out with extreme aggression once, itcould happen again.

"No one can really predict the future," says DeSouza. "But it's interesting that the law [...] does give an animal control officer some opportunity to make that prediction."

The court willtapexperts, such as animal control officersand animal behaviour specialists, tospeak towhether ananimalcan be rehabilitated, orwhether it hasanirresponsible owner.

Alternatives to euthanizing

Those determinations can makeeuthanizingananimal less likely.

In one case involving a pitbull whichattacked its owners,DeSouza's firmsuccessfullyargued to ban thoseowners from keepingpets,instead of putting the dog down for its violent outburst.

No matter the final result of these cases, he acknowledges that the issue can bedivisive.

"There is a fundamental disagreement with whether you should be able to euthanize a dog," he says.

"All I can say is that the law does allow that, and the courts, the judge, will make that decision."