Karen Lau, who has acted on Surrey's dog bylaw advisory committee for about 12 years, said tighter restrictions for dog owners are on the way. Surrey's dog bylaw is about to get a lot stricter and expensive for pet owners with aggressive animals. But the new legislation will not be breed specific, despite the public call for a ban on pit bulls.
The demand for a ban comes after a three-year-old boy was seriously attacked by a pit bull Friday afternoon in a home hear 103 Avenue and 133 Street . The dog, normally kept on a chain outside, was mistakenly brought inside. It suddenly turned on Justice Paradis, biting the toddler's face several times. The child was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery.
Family members said the boy's facial injuries were severe but he was expected to recover.
The boy's father told CTV News he blames himself for not being more watchful. "I should have known better," DeJal-Blue Paradis said. "I should not have let my son out of my range." The boy's grandfather, Bill Paradis, said the dog, named Haze, belongs to the boy's mother and hasn't attacked anyone before.
Haze is usually kept on a chain outside the family home near 103 Avenue and 133 Street in Surrey. When the boy's father allowed the dog inside the house, Haze attacked, biting the son, then the father when he tried to rescue his child. "[The dog] grabbed him on the face and whipped him down," DeJal-Blue Paradis said, adding that his son suffered a hole in his cheek.
The family is now expected to have the dog euthanized.The boy was taken to emergency and is now at home and expected to recover from his injuries.
The family is now expected to have the dog euthanized.The boy was taken to emergency and is now at home and expected to recover from his injuries.
Karen Lau, who has acted on Surrey's dog bylaw advisory committee for about 12 years, said the call for breed bans in such instances is understandable, but ill-informed. The committee worked for two years to fully develop the city's "Dog Responsibility Bylaw," which puts the blame for an attack at the feet of the dog owner. The bylaw was given final reading in March of 2000.
Several months ago, Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts asked the committee to revisit the bylaw to see if there was any way of strengthening it.
Several months ago, Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts asked the committee to revisit the bylaw to see if there was any way of strengthening it.
The advisory committee has just finished a draft to make the dog bylaw a lot tougher, Lau said, declining to be specific before council sees it. Lau noted fines will be higher and restrictions will be tightened. But she remains dead against making legislation breed specific."Most people don't understand, the breed is general, they're just dogs," Lau said Monday. "But the person at the end of that leash that raises that animal, they are all different."
She believes dogs other than pit bulls attack with similar frequency, but the media
sensationalizes it when there's a pit bull involved."Unfortunately, when it's a pit bull, or pit-bull type dog, it gets more publicity," Lau said. "What I'm trying to say is other dogs bite too, but you don't hear about it as much."
Watts said Monday she looks forward to seeing the bylaw, and notes she generally opposes breed bans because they take the onus off the owner.
Watts said educational resources are available in the city for people looking to raise happy, non-aggressive dogs.
One of those is through a program called "Playing it Safe with Dogs." More information regarding that program can be obtained by emailing Karen Lau at piswd@agiledogsports.com
(We are happy to say that HugABull had a hand in this new bylaw and we are looking forward to having this in place in the City of Surrey.)
1 comment:
Wonderful
Kudos to your group and Ms Lau and now if the Media will just smarten up and quit targeting these dogs.
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