Mount Royal goes to the dogs in annual anti-cruelty walk

On a chilly Sunday morning, hundreds of people and dogs took to the trails of Mount Royal for a good cause.

The annual Snout & About walk against animal cruelty, hosted by the Montreal SPCA and AnimaPlus,raised about $50,000 for the Montreal SPCA.They are aiming to use it on theirinspections team.

Inspector Elyse Hynes said the SPCAisactively seeking a new inspector to add to their five-person team.

"We're overloaded with cases. We can't respond as quickly as we would want," Hynes told CBC.

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"Sometimes we can't get to complaints that aren't labeled 'urgent' for a week or two. And security is expensive."

The inspectors work on about 60 active cases per week.

Pitbull advocates on site

The young organization Qubec Pit Bull was at the event as part of their partnership with the SPCA.

Founder Dana Hyde said rather than have the province put through anti-pitbull legislation,it should look at dog owners.

"If you're walking your dog without a leash, it's caught loose in the streets, or it bites, the owner should be fined," Hyde said. "Punish irresponsible owners."

She added that in places like Ontario where pitbulls have been banned for more than 10 years, dog bites have gone up. They are just coming from other breeds now.

She said that she isn't worried about a provincial ban on the breed. But individual cities, like Laval, may be able to put through breed-specific bans.

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