Last November, a Montreal woman’s pit bull bit and bruised the wrist of a woman in her apartment building. After the woman, who asked that we not use her name, went to the police, the pit bull was forced to undergo an evaluation in December and the owner was fined $500 for the dog bite. The owner paid the fine and the cost of the evaluation, which came out to $465.
The five-year old mixed pit bull scored an 8/10 danger to public safety grade. Under Montreal’s strict dangerous dog laws, this meant that the dog had to be put down, and in February, the owner received a letter from the city saying she had 48 hours to do so.
The woman told CJAD 800’s Elias Makos “I really don’t believe in putting your dog down, it’s like my child. I could never do that.”
Instead, the woman took the dog out of the country and placed it in a New York home, where living conditions are different than they were in Montreal. She says the change of pace was good for the dog, as the dog was stressed out in the city and suffered from anxiety.
On July 15, she received a letter from the city demanding she pay a $1041 fine as she failed to present a euthanasia certificate for the pit bull.
She plans to fight the fine in court.
“I might end up trying to go in front of the judge and negotiate because the dog is no longer in Canada, and that has the same effect as if the dog was put down,” she said.
As of now, she is unsure if the $1000 fine is a one-time fine, or if this is a reccurring fine that she will receive throughout the dog’s lifetime.