Pet dog held because of Pit Bull ban

[Catherine]

Blu, the American Pocket Bully, slipped out of his yard and disappeared. Not to worry, he was turned in to the city's animal services. When the family went to claim him, Animal Services refused to release him. They claim he is a pit bull. The family produced documentation to prove his breed. Animal Services said that was not good enough. They think he sort of resembles a pit bull so they are holding him as a pit bull. That was 22 days ago. The family is fighting it, but thye are afraid the dog will be killed before they can challenge this legally.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/d...-1.6231696

This is an American Pocket Bully.



Pit bulls.



There are similarities, but the Bully seems to be a much heavier set dog.
Clearly Animal Services does not really know its dog breeds.
This is one of the many  downsides of Breed Specific Legislation. Pit Bulls are banned in Ontario. We are trying to get it over turned, but it is taking a lot of time.
More than one dog has been held as a possible pit bull. Some are even less like a pit bull. Sometimes the cases end badly. 

I just hope they are able to save Blu. He is a beautiful dog and he deserves to be home with his loving family.

[Tobi]

Blu looks almost like a kind of Bulldog. Not a Pit Bull really. He looks like rather a kindly dog, and it is awful he's in this predicament.
It is typical for animal services to get breeds mixed up. 'Looks like'  on someone's dodgy chart of 'what is and what isn't'  is enough to have an animal euthanised through no fault of its own?

Poor Blu. I hope this is solved and he can go home to his family a.s.a.p.

[Catherine]

This pit bull ban has been so unfair. It is not just unfair to the pit bulls. It causes trouble for people with any other kind of bull dog.
There are some similarities, but there are some obvious differences. Bull dogs are much heavier in the shoulders. They are stocky. 

I am hoping for two things. I want Blu to go home to his people and I want them to drop the pit bull ban. Banning pit bulls has not made people safer. Better pet parenting would make people safer.

[Catherine]

How often do you wish for something and it happens?
I wanted Blu back home with his family and he is back home with his family.

https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/puppy-held-by...-1.5647401

Let's hope that the pit bull ban is ended too.

[Catherine]

This story just keeps getting more and more complicated.
Right after he was returned the dog bit a teen who approached him.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/b...-1.6241190

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/video/news/own...d=msedgntp

I feel bad for the kid who was bitten. He probably will have scars. He is certainly in a lot of pain right now.

I feel bad for the dog because people have put him through so much. Being held in a cage for almost a month must have been frightening. This was Animal Control, not a loving shelter. They thought he was a dangerous breed and they would have euthanized him. Dogs are sensitive and he would have been aware of their attitude towards him.  After his return to his family he needed some time to get over the trauma. He probably should not have been out of the house. He needed  some time to recover and feel safe again. Whatever happened to trigger the biting incident most likely is a product of the trauma of the dog being held for so long.

I hope that whatever happens, the dog is given a chance to recover. 
I hope the teen recovers and has minimal damage. I hope he can deal with his fear of dogs.

Sadly the pit bull ban won't be lifted right now.

[Libby]

As someone with a pitbull mix, I hate BSL and always have. It's never about the breed. It's how they are raised and the individual situation. I was glad to see he was reunited. Then he was put in a position with a scared kid, which likely triggered him to react because of that fear. It's so bad, especially after just being reunited with his family. Blu has been through a lot.

[Catherine]

I understand Blu is living outside of the city right now. It will be calmer for him, but he must be so confused.

The pit bull ban was a gut  level reaction to a dog attack years ago. We were very close to lifting the ban and then the biting incident happened. No politician will touch it. We have an election in the spring and pit bulls don't vote.

Other things cause trouble and they don't get banned, just pit bulls. No one talks about banning cars after a pedestrian is killed. They won't even hear of lowering the speed limit to improve the chances of surviving being struck.

We will eventually get the ban lifted, but until we do we keep having incidents like this.

[LPC]

"Other things cause trouble and they don't get banned, just pit bulls. No one talks about banning cars after a pedestrian is killed. They won't even hear of lowering the speed limit to improve the chances of surviving being struck."

Good point! Countless people are killed by cars every day, in almost every country of the world. Also every year, people get shot and killed by accident during hunting activity. As you say, none of that gets banned. (I'm not saying that cars should be banned, just supporting your point above).

P.S. I wanted to quote your reply properly, using the forum link buttons. But there seems to be a technical problem which has crept in: the "Quote", "Reply" and "New Reply" buttons do not work any more (they lead to a blank page). The only way to reply is via "Quick Reply". Just thought that I would mention it....

[Catherine]

Quote:Good point! Countless people are killed by cars every day, in almost every country of the world. Also every year, people get shot and killed by accident during hunting activity. As you say, none of that gets banned. (I'm not saying that cars should be banned, just supporting your point above).

I am not suggesting we ban cars, but they could be regulated better. Hunting is another matter. Guns kill a lot of people, sometimes by accident. Guns kill more people than pit bulls do. So why do we ban pit bulls, but not guns?

Quote:P.S. I wanted to quote your reply properly, using the forum link buttons. But there seems to be a technical problem which has crept in: the "Quote", "Reply" and "New Reply" buttons do not work any more (they lead to a blank page). The only way to reply is via "Quick Reply". Just thought that I would mention it....

This is strange. I am not having any problems with these things. I can't see anything wrong with your settings. I will look through the forum software and see if I can find a problem.

[LPC]

When I click on "Reply" (not Quick Reply) I get this error message: