Author: Hilary Hanson / Source: HuffPost
Montreal will roll back a ban on pit bull-type dogs after animal protection groups slammed the measure.
Valérie Plante, who was elected mayor of the Canadian city in November, promised during her campaign that she would repeal breed-specific restrictions on dog ownership that had been put into place by former Mayor Denis Coderre.
On Friday, Craig Sauvé, a city councilor who serves on a committee that handles animal control, announced that animal control bylaws that target specific dog breeds or physical characteristics — rather than demonstrated behavior — will be officially lifted at a Dec. 20 meeting.
“Montreal is a welcoming city for pet owners and will remain so,” Sauvé said, according to the CBC.
In 2016, Coderre’s government passed legislation that banned Montreal residents from acquiring pit bulls — which were defined by the law as American pit bull terriers, American Staffordshire terriers, Staffordshire bull terriers, crosses including one of those breeds, or dogs that share physical characteristics with those breeds.
The law allowed people who already owned pit bulls to keep them, but implemented severe restrictions, including requiring that owners pay a $150 permit fee and that they keep the dogs muzzled and on a short leash in public.
The Montreal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals strongly campaigned against the new rules, arguing that since forbidding pit bull adoptions…
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