London home to 100's of unlicenced pit bulls

In the London Free Press today was this column. Only last night I spoke to a kid that was under the impression his dog was legally Grandfathered. He told me of other dogs that were the same.

He was walking his dog on a leash, but no muzzle and as he noticed Shasta, he was really impressed and said she was a beautiful dog. He asked if she was spayed and of course I said yes. I asked him if his was and he said no.
I then attempted to educate him of the ban and telling him the risks he was taking. I asked him what he meant his dog was legally grandfathered.

He said the dog was his mothers until he turns 19 as he is only 18 right now. I asked him why didn't his mother have him altered, microchipped and all the other things required for our dogs prior to registering them at the end of the year? He said their old dog had died and the AC had said that the new dog was registered from the old dog.

I explained that, that was not how the process worked. We not only had a specific check list to which we needed documentations from our vet's regarding spay/neuter papers, microchip registration and number, undated varification of vacinations, two photo's of head and side view shots, plus a witnessed report that we had to bring in directly to London Animal Care to register.

I told him of how legal dogs were being targeted, let alone an illegally owned one and explained how if found out, his dog was as good as dead and his mother up on charges and possibly jail time.

The kid didn't seemed concerned and his remark was, "We're going to win this soon anyway."

I explained the case hadn't even started in the courts yet and know knows how long the fight would be. I told him we were also fighting for responsible ownership of all dogs, meaning that his mother and his other friends with dogs that did not abide by the law and bylaw were enfringing against what we were fighting for.

I honestly don't think anything I told him sunk in and I was deeply disturbed knowing there are dogs right in my neighbourhood that at any time could be put down.

Will I call AC about the people? NO! The reason is strickly for the lives of the dogs and I will not be a party to that. I just can't believe the ignorance of so many people that aren't even aware that they are breaking the law and others that are, but are waiting for us to win this case.

I think of all the effort from groups and responsible dog owners, some that do not even own a bullie breed and all the effort we put into fighting to change a law. The money we are trying to gather for our defence. The education we put out and talk to people about. Going to City Hall to make a difference for the dogs and people out their not contributing, but going along for a free ride without as much as abiding by the law. grrrrr....

Personally, I don't give a rats ass what happens to them...but I do care about their dogs and there is nothing I can do about it!

London could be home to hundreds of unlicenced pit bulls
Thu, March 16, 2006
By JOE BELANGER, FREE PRESS CITY HALL REPORTER

Hundreds of unlicensed pit bulls could be roaming London, despite a provincial ban and strict regulations backed by steep fines.

Jay Stanford, the city’s manager of environmental services, said there could be 340 unlicenced pit bulls in the city.
That’s the number of pit-bull owners who haven’t renewed their dog’s licence from last year and face fines of up to $500 under a city bylaw.

“We really don’t know how many are out there, but we know there are 340 owners who haven’t come in for licence renewals,” said Stanford, adding 500 pit bulls are licenced.

“Our plan now is to get back to these folks. We’ve given them a lot of time to register and they’ve had lots of notification. Now it’s a matter of finding out if they need a fine to convince them we’re serious.”

Stanford said the city will crack down on unlicenced dogs at the end of the month with letters, phone calls, visits and, possibly, fines.