what would you do?
Friday, April 20, 2007
across the alley from us there is a house that has about 4 little puppies. They're pitbulls and about 8 weeks old. Yesterday while outside in the yard you could hear yelping. Looking over the fence you'd see the owner kicking, yelling and throwing the puppies around in what looked to be an attempt to train them to fight. After calling the SPCA (Hamilton Humane Society) they told us they can't do anything, even if you film it the courts won't admit it....
what would you do?
4/21/2007
Jord,
I was thinking about your predicament last night, and I'm no law expert, but somethings that came to mind were that: a) Pitbull fighting is illegal and b) Pitbulls are already dangerous animals on the verge of being banned. By abusing them, the owner is just making them more dangerous.
I'm not sure if you can argue this to courts or police (instead of just going to the SPCA), but it could be worth a shot. You may also wanted to look at this: http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/showdoc/cs/C-46//20070421/en?command=HOME&caller=SI&fragment=Animal%20fighting&search_type=all&day=21&month=4&year=2007&search_domain=cs&showall=L&statuteyear=all&lengthannual=50&length=50
It's the Criminal Code of Canada, and it sets some pretty strict laws about cruelty to animals. Under Section 446, the person you describe breaks subsections (a), perhaps (c) and, if he is training them to fight, (d). If you can't find any other way to stop the owner from hurting the dogs (i.e. talking to him/her about it) then it is within your rights to go to the police with the problem, since it is their duty to uphold the law.
Regardless, I'll be praying that God gives you the wisdom to know what to do.
-Ande M-C
"Emotion-L", and possibly a future lawyer