anastasia: They're banned here

Mar 24, 2007 04:30 AM
Peter Small
Courts Bureau

A judge has upheld the constitutionality of Ontario's controversial ban on pit bulls, despite a challenge by a Toronto dog owner.

Although evidence on the danger posed by pit bulls is inconclusive, the provincial Legislature had a "reasoned apprehension of harm" when it chose to target all such dogs, Justice Thea Herman said in her judgement, released yesterday.

The Superior Court judge ruled that the means the provincial government chose to protect the public were not disproportionate and therefore not unconstitutional, as had been argued last May by lawyer Clayton Ruby, on behalf of dog owner Catherine Cochrane.

"Dog ownership is not a right," Herman said.

In the absence of conclusive data, legislators are entitled to err on the side of safety, she said.

"There is no doubt that individuals in Ontario have been seriously injured by dogs that were identified as pit bulls."

However, Herman narrowed the province's wide definition of pit bulls. She ruled it unconstitutional to include dogs that are not Staffordshire bull terriers, American Staffordshire terriers or American pit bull terriers, or those substantially similar in appearance.

She also ruled it unconstitutional to declare a dog a pit bull on the basis of a document from a veterinarian, as this "offends trial fairness and the right to be presumed innocent."

Under the contested amendments to the Dog Owner's Liability Act, violators are subject to a maximum penalty of $10,000 and six months in jail.

In a news release, Ruby declared partial victory, but vowed to appeal.

"These are steps in the right direction, but they are not going far enough," Caroline Wawzonek, Ruby's co-counsel, told the Star.

But a spokesperson for Attorney General Michael Bryant stated that all but two out of 169 provisions in the amended legislation remained unaffected by the judge's decision.

Under the law, Ontarians can't newly acquire pit bulls. Existing owners must neuter their dogs and make sure they are leashed and muzzled in public. Offenders' pit bulls must be euthanized.

"People should continue to leash and muzzle their pit bulls; pit bulls are banned in Ontario, and that has been upheld by the Ontario Superior Court," Bryant told reporters.