At a council meeting on Tuesday afternoon, legislators voted in 37 to 23 favor of breed-specific legislation, effectively outlawing any dog that resembles a pit bull — unless owners meet a strict set of conditions.
"I have a responsibility as the mayor of Montreal to protect the citizens," Mayor Denis Coderre told reporters after the vote.
But pit bull-type dogs currently in city shelters need not apply. Under the ban — which loosely covers American pit bull terriers, American Staffordshire terriers and Staffordshire bull terriers — no dog considered a pit bull can be adopted from Montreal shelters.
"For dogs that don't have an 'owner' on the day of the passing of the legislation, the way the legislation is drafted, the dogs have to be euthanized," Alanna Devine, of the Montreal SPCA, told The Dodo last week.
To read more on this story, click here: Montreal Just Delivered A Death Sentence To Thousands Of Dogs
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