Penalties for the owner of a dog that attacks can range from criminal charges to destruction of the dog
In the wake of several dog-on-dog attacks over the weekend, the Windsor Essex Humane Society wants to be clear about the laws involved.
Executive Director Melanie Coulter told AM800 listeners on the Lynn Martin Show that dog owners have responsibilities.
“An owner of a dog does have an obligation to ensure that their dog doesn't harm other domestic animals and doesn’t harm other people as well,” says Coulter. “So that is an obligation an owner has.”
In the most extreme cases, Coulter says the municipality would have to go to court to have any final action taken.
Windsor-Essex County Humane Society Executive Director Melanie Coulter discusses dog tethering at a Kingsville Council meeting November 26, 2018 (Photo by AM800's Zander Broeckel)
"A judge has to make the decision to require an owner to take steps say muzzle their dog in public or take other steps to prevent that from happening again or in some cases the municipality can seek an order that the dog be euthanized."
Coulter says there is a Pitbull ban in Ontario, but any dog that would have been "grandfathered" in under the original ban would be very old by now.
She says the big challenge is that several breeds of dogs resemble what people believe to be a Pitbull, but are not genetically the same.