smith family kennels
06-16-2009, 11:21 PM
Canada: Supreme Court won’t hear pit bull ban appeal
Posted on June 12, 2009 by stopbslcom
http://www.canada.com/Supreme+Court+hear+bull+appeal/1685809/story.html
Supreme Court won’t hear pit bull ban appeal
By Janice Tibbetts, Canwest News Service
June 11, 2009
OTTAWA – A Toronto dog owner’s fight to overturn a provincial ban on pit bulls reached the end of the legal road Thursday when the Supreme Court of Canada declined to consider whether the four-year-old law is unconstitutional.
The decision means that pit bulls will remain illegal in Ontario, which imposed the ban in 2005 to eliminate what the government described as a “ticking time bomb.”
The high court’s refusal to weigh in on the issue effectively upholds a ruling in the Ontario Court of Appeal, which concluded the law is justified to protect public safety.
“The total ban on pit bulls is not “arbitrary” or “grossly disproportionate” in light of the evidence that pit bulls have a tendency to be unpredictable and that even apparently docile pit bulls may attack without warning or provocation,” said the October 2008 decision.
The Dog Owners’ Liability Act prohibits pit bull terriers, Staffordshire bull terriers, American Staffordshire terriers, American pit bull terriers and any dog “that has an appearance and physical characteristics that are substantially similar.”
Ontario has the only provincial ban in Canada, although a handful of municipalities have passed their own bylaws, including Guysborough, N.S., and Winnipeg, which has outlawed pit bulls since 1990.
Animal advocacy groups oppose sweeping bans on breeds, arguing that law enforcement should focus on irresponsible dog owners.
Clayton Ruby, the lawyer for Catherine Cochrane, owner of a Staffordshire terrier named Chess, failed in his attempt to convince the Supreme Court to consider whether Ontario’s law is so vague that it is unconstitutional because it captures half-breeds, mutts, and even dogs that look like pit bulls.
A three-judge panel, by convention, did not give reasons for denying the appeal application.
The Ontario government’s ban was imposed following a spate of pit bull attacks in the province. Owners were allowed to keep dogs born before the ban, but the animals had to be neutered, muzzled and kept on a leash in public.
The maximum penalty for violating the ban is a $10,000 fine and six months in jail.
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service
Posted on June 12, 2009 by stopbslcom
http://www.canada.com/Supreme+Court+hear+bull+appeal/1685809/story.html
Supreme Court won’t hear pit bull ban appeal
By Janice Tibbetts, Canwest News Service
June 11, 2009
OTTAWA – A Toronto dog owner’s fight to overturn a provincial ban on pit bulls reached the end of the legal road Thursday when the Supreme Court of Canada declined to consider whether the four-year-old law is unconstitutional.
The decision means that pit bulls will remain illegal in Ontario, which imposed the ban in 2005 to eliminate what the government described as a “ticking time bomb.”
The high court’s refusal to weigh in on the issue effectively upholds a ruling in the Ontario Court of Appeal, which concluded the law is justified to protect public safety.
“The total ban on pit bulls is not “arbitrary” or “grossly disproportionate” in light of the evidence that pit bulls have a tendency to be unpredictable and that even apparently docile pit bulls may attack without warning or provocation,” said the October 2008 decision.
The Dog Owners’ Liability Act prohibits pit bull terriers, Staffordshire bull terriers, American Staffordshire terriers, American pit bull terriers and any dog “that has an appearance and physical characteristics that are substantially similar.”
Ontario has the only provincial ban in Canada, although a handful of municipalities have passed their own bylaws, including Guysborough, N.S., and Winnipeg, which has outlawed pit bulls since 1990.
Animal advocacy groups oppose sweeping bans on breeds, arguing that law enforcement should focus on irresponsible dog owners.
Clayton Ruby, the lawyer for Catherine Cochrane, owner of a Staffordshire terrier named Chess, failed in his attempt to convince the Supreme Court to consider whether Ontario’s law is so vague that it is unconstitutional because it captures half-breeds, mutts, and even dogs that look like pit bulls.
A three-judge panel, by convention, did not give reasons for denying the appeal application.
The Ontario government’s ban was imposed following a spate of pit bull attacks in the province. Owners were allowed to keep dogs born before the ban, but the animals had to be neutered, muzzled and kept on a leash in public.
The maximum penalty for violating the ban is a $10,000 fine and six months in jail.
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service