Death for an Innocent Puppy

Madonna
Last Wednesday, March 9, Madonna, a Pit bull cross, was euthanized. The dog's death came in spite of offers to adopt the dog, including one from the Toronto Humane Society.
Society president Tim Trow said he called a supervisor with animal control last Tuesday and offered to come down and pick up Madonna at no charge to the city.
"I was told the dog would be put down," said Mr. Trow. "I said we would drive down and bring her to our facility, where we have professional trainers that could work with the dog. I was told by the manager (Jim Gillis) that he'd think about it, but the answer was no. I told him he wasn't being much of an advocate for animals, and all he wanted to know was who called us about Madonna."
Last week, the city's animal control operations came under the microscope after it started to euthanize Pit bulls in advance of the Ontario government's Bill 132 - An Act to amend the Dog Owners' Liability Act. Although the law, which will place new restrictions on Pit bulls in the province, has reached third reading, it has yet to receive Royal assent.
Council ordered animal control to halt the killing on anymore Pit bulls until the law officially comes into effect.
Unfortunately, it seems, the action was taken too late to save Madonna's life.
"This was not a vicious dog," said Ms. Maerz, who rescued another Pit bull from the city last week and placed it with a new home in Seattle. "This dog was cleared for adoption and passed all the poking and prodding tests done to determine an animal's demeanour.
"I saw her the night before she died, up at the Dartnall Road facility, and she was wagging her tail and looking up at the two people who made the decision to euthanize her."
Aside from the government's new dog legislation, Madonna's trouble was compounded by the fact she was adopted out and returned. The family who took her Feb. 24 returned the animal after an incident in a leash-free park.
Ms. Maerz said the young family already had a dog, two young children and lived in an apartment. Madonna was let loose in a leash-free park without any obedience training, and pinned another animal while playing.
This prompted the adoptee's to return the animal and it was deemed aggressive by the city.
Tom Redmond, director of building and licensing, said the city has a responsibility to protect the public from aggressive animals.
"There are liability issues and we could be on the hook," he said. "This dog was deemed toy and food aggressive, and those are not desirable qualities. We have a statutory obligation to public safety."
However, attempts to access the assessment done on Madonna were unsuccessful, and questions remain whether the dog was ever re-assessed.
Prior to press time, senior city staffer Leanne Coveyduck had offered to show the assessment documents related to Madonna to Brabant Newspapers. However, those documents were not provided.
Mr. Redmond questioned the Toronto Humane Society's interest in this animal.
"Why is the THS interested in this particular breed?" he asked. "It seems wounds have yet to heal over the Pit bull ban. We are not a charitable organization. There are only so many spaces, and we have to determine whether an animal is a good candidate to take up space in a cage."
Ward 11 councillor David Mitchell said he was furious with the way the situation was handled, and vowed to get to the bottom of it.
"There seems to be a real lack of sensitivity, and I'd like to know what staff person okayed this," he said. "I think there should be some disciplinary action. This was a wrong decision."
Mr. Mitchell said what angered him even more was the fact the Toronto Humane Society offered to take the dog.
"Where was the common sense here? This was an easy way out," he said. "We pay people a lot of money to make smart decisions."