Homeless women's dog euthanized

[Catherine]

Cesar is a pit bull mix who lived with a homeless woman in a tent city in Surry BC. By law officers seized the dog this summer and his owner was arrested when she tried to stop them. She was not charged and when she tried to get her dog back she found out he was already dead. They just went ahead and killed him without telling her.

https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&...ZIY9kkexUf


We know this wouldn't have happened if Cesar's owner had owned a big house. Yes there is a double standard. Homeless people are not treated equally. It seems their pets are not given equal treatment either. Cesar was not a vicious dog. He never bit anyone. His only mistake was to live with a homeless person. 

Nothing can bring Cesar back, but hopefully making this issue public will protect the pets of other homeless people.

[Tobi]

How sad and awful.
This was prejudice against the homeless, and it was prejudice against the breed of dog.

This quotation annoys me tremendously:
"The manager also says Lander was given plenty of time to reclaim the dog—at a price of $1,500."

Now where is a homeless person to find $1.500??

I feel deeply for Candice. She must be utterly heartbroken. I don't know how she is finding the strength to shout out and fight back right now, considering what has happened. Bless her.

[Catherine]

When I look at how much money they wanted before the dog could be reclaimed it looks like a bit of a money grab. 
If they had notified Candice the way they would notify someone else, the money would have been raised. The homeless advocate group would have put out the word and people would have given money. 

I think she is fighting now so that Cesar will not have died in vain. They can make a real rallying cry around Cesar and what was done to him. The deeper issue is why are there so many homeless people in a country like Canada. Why don't we have housing for the people who have no jobs and no place to stay?

I know that there are programs being developed and there are people who work with the homeless, but it is not enough. There are some shelters that take pets with their people. There are not enough.
I always wonder why we do not use resources that are just sitting there. For example we have schools sitting empty with good rooms, proper bathrooms and good walls and roofs. Why waste the space. Open them up to people in need. There are lots of other empty places that could house the homeless. 

Candice and Cesar were finding a way to live and support each other. Instead of helping they came in and took from Candice the only thing that had meaning in her life. There are some very mean people in this world.

[Tobi]

To me, it seems more than a money-grab. It seems like the cruellest form of cynicism. They must have known they had no hope of getting $1500 dollars from Candice. It isn't that they didn't know her position. To my way of seeing it, such an idea is an exceptionally dark one.
They just wanted to get rid of that dog....one less thing to have to keep an eye on or concern themselves about.

There is a heck of a lot of fear and prejudice against Pit Bulls. Even where they are not illegal dogs. Yes I have heard of Pit Bull attacks....but I have heard of many other breeds also being aggressive. And any other dog can cause as much damage if they are inclined to violence. However, I have heard of a MUCH larger proportion of Pit Bulls being good loving dogs.

It seems there was no history of aggression at all with Candice's dog, but the people who killed that dog couldn't even be bothered to check that out, or if they did, to take it seriously.

My guess is, if that Pit Bull had belonged to some middle class family, this tragedy wouldn't have happened.

I can't imagine what Candice must be feeling right now.

[Catherine]

Quote:My guess is, if that Pit Bull had belonged to some middle class family, this tragedy wouldn't have happened.

You said it exactly. Cesar wouldn't have been taken if Candice had been a lawyer or had been in a position to hire a lawyer.
The dog wasn't illegal and there were no actual reports of aggression on his part. Because Candice is homeless she is powerless. They can label her dog as vicious and kill him even though it is not true. 

The whole pit bull issue is badly mishandled. They have been labeled as dangerous even before they are assessed. In some places they are banned. The incidents of dog attacks have not declined. People have a false sense of safety because they think pit bulls are the dangerous dogs. They think that makes other dogs safe. In stead of banning one breed we should be teaching people how to behave around dogs.

While we are at it we should be teaching people how to treat homeless people with respect. This whole thing should not have happened.  I hope Candice finds a way to keep going. Cesar would want her to have a good life even though he can no longer be there.