Montreal City Officials voted to ban adopting or buying pit bulls, according to CNN.
In addition to the ban, current pit bull owners have to comply with a series of rules, which include, keeping dogs muzzled, and on a short leash in public, and requiring a criminal background check. Punishment for breaking the rules could lead to euthanizing a dog.
Protestors who have been resisting implementation of the law said banning the breed is wrong. And, veterinarians said they have no obligation to put down a healthy animal.
Other Canadian jurisdictions – Ontario and Winnipeg – have also implemented the ban. The disagreement from protestors is that pit bulls are generally good dogs that can behave badly when they have bad owners, who teach them to be violent, which they said, is what needs to be controlled.
The debate was sparked in June, when a Montreal woman was mauled to death in her backyard by a neighbor’s dog.
Should government leaders be allowed to ban breed-specific dogs?
