London, Ontario stumpted over restricted, service dog
I've been writing articles from the news, but this time I'm going to write a personal ordeal I'm going through in my own home city.
As many of you already know, my Shasta is an American Pit bull Terrier and restricted in Ontario, Canada, meaning I have to keep her leashed (a bylaw for all dogs excluding the leash free dog parks except for the bullie breeds) and muzzled when out in public.
She is also a certified service/guide dog for me and allowed to go anywhere I go. She wears both her service vest and her muzzle when we are out in accordance to the law. Because she is also an Alert and Respose Dog, I could with my doctors fight for an exemption for the muzzle to be removed, as she can't respond should I take an attack while in public.
My reason for not going for that exemption is easy. It's one of my ways of fighting against the breed ban. It's also a great way to meet people to educate them about the breed, the law and how it can eventually effect other breeds of dogs if we don't fight against this ban. Peoples eyes open when I tell them there have been talks about banning large dogs or dogs over 30 pounds. Suddenly, they realize their beloved pet may be banned and they feel the shock and horror that all of us bullie owners felt.
Bullie owners that had their dogs registered last year received again this year received a form in the mail to fill out and sign with discription of your bullie with height to shoulders, weight, age, etc., plus we had to take two more recent mug shots of our dog(s) (frontal and side view) as well as an up-to-date rabies vacination invoice. Only bullie owners have to appear in person to bring this proof to ACC to get their license tags.
This went by smoothly enough as from last year I knew exactly what was needed and once they were given all that information, I then showed them Shasta's letters and certificates showing she was a certified service/guide dog. The difference is service/guide dogs do not have to pay for their licenses as they are N/A as they povide a service and not considered pets..
This totally stumpted all of the clerks at ACC as they had never dealt with a restricted dog that was also a service/guide dog and didn't have any information how this should be handled. Leave it to Shasta and I to mind boggle the very place that knows all the rules when it comes to laws and bylaws of animals.
Because the office was near closing and the doors were already locked and there were a roomful of bullie owners trying to process their dogs, I paid for the license and one of the clerks gave me a name, phone number and extention number to call at City Hall to see if I should get refunded for the license. Naturally, with it being the Christmas and New Years holidays, all government building were closed until January 2nd.
Came the 2nd and rather than phoning, I decided to take my chances of going straight to City Hall and see if the man I was to speak to was available. Within seconds he came out and I explained the situation as I brought out all the papers and certificates to show him. First he assumed I was trying to get out of the muzzle law, but I told him that wasn't my intention. That I always abided by the provincial law as well as the city bylaws. I was only there to as sent by ACC regarding me getting a refund for Shasta's 2007 dog lisence as per her right as a service/guide dog.
He was very gracious the whole time and I found him easy to talk to, but he also was stumpted if there was any law that prohibits a restricted breed to be in a service/guide dog catagory. I reminded him that she had gone through all her training and sucessfully passed all her tests as did any other service/guide dog in Canada and certified. By doing so she has rightfully earned the same status as other service/guide dogs dispite her breed and he had all the papers and certificates in front of him as proof. I was calm, curtious and assertive to get my point made.
He told me he saw everything was in order, but he wanted to check the law to see if there was any mention of restricted breeds as service dogs and would phione me in the beginning of the week to let me know if I was eligable for a refund or not.
Today is Wed and of yet I have not heard back from him. Perhaps I should give him a call myself and I will keep you updated.
3 comments:
I find it painful to see pictures of your dog with her muzzle. Yet I just read a newspaper article where one dog owner was in favour of the pitbull ban and even suggested public muzzling for all breeds. That just goes to show that some people (many people actually) should not be allowed to own dogs. She'd be perfectly happy to muzzle her Shih Tzu apparently. Poor dog.
I remember talking to a reporter a few years ago who was asking what was so bad about muzzling dogs. Aside from all the known behaviour issues I said it was just unethical. He countered by saying that he had a JRT that he wished he could muzzle when company comes over. I simply replied that he'd never understand the issue then because he is, like so many other dog owners, too irresponsible to be trusted with the care of a dog.
When looking at pictures of Shasta in her muzzle, I realize that I'd rather see dog ownership outlawed than see a single dog forced to wear a muzzle.
Dear Conners and Shasta,
I hope this person at the city Hall will be educated on how nice and intelligent and wonderful bullies can be.
Any news from the court yet?
Take good care
I believe you should call them. When it comes to the government you should rarely leave anything in the court because they tend to conveniently "forget" about things. Maybe you should even go back down there? I hope that you get your money back. It would be a small victory, but a victory none the less.
Keep us updated :)
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