Written by The Banned Aid Coalition
With the upcoming election the media is talking about taxes, healthcare and daycare. Yet what is more important than the fact that a minority of citizens have had their basic rights as set out in Canada's Constitution and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms stripped away?
When McGuinty's government passed Bill 132 it robbed Ontario citizens of their basic rights in 4 ways.
1) Search and seizure without a warrant - applies to all dog owners regardless of breed.
Most people think Bill 132 is a law that will protect people from the alleged danger of "pit bulls". Few realize that Bill 132 allows the police or animal control officers to enter the home of any dog owner without a warrant simply on the suspicion that a dog in the home might be dangerous. The potential for neighbour abuse of this is frightening. Your dog could seized and euthanized because of a neighbour complaint - regardless of what breed or type it is.
2) Guilty until proven innocent - welcome to the "new" Ontario.
Ontario citizens can be fined up to $10,000 and even jailed unless they can prove that their dog is not a "pit bull", yet breed identification experts who presented at the hearing stated unequivocally that there is no way to prove what a dog is unless it is a pedigreed dog. In other words, if you have a boxer-lab cross or a dog from a humane society and you are accused of having a "pit bull" then it is impossible for you to prove otherwise. You are automatically guilty under Bill 132 and you could have your pet seized and killed or you could even be jailed as a result of owning an illegal "pit bull". Guilty until proven innocent violates the fundamental tenets on which this country was founded.
3) No ability to cross-examine the alleged expert doing a breed identification.
What kind of government writes into its legislation that a document must only be purported to be signed by a vet, with no requirement that credentials be produced and no opportunity for the accused party to cross-examine or question their accuser, even though they may face jail time because of their accusation? This is exactly what Bill 132 does. Once again, every citizen should be outraged whether they like or abhor "pit bull" type dogs.
4) "Necessary force" - these dangerous powers have been handed to untrained animal control officers.
Every dog owner and citizen in the province should be concerned that Bill 132 allows animal control officers to use necessary force when dealing with Ontario citizens. It is an outrage that untrained civil employees now have the right to use violent force at their own discretion against citizens. The potential for abuse is enormous and the danger to citizens is very real.
Since when does it make sense to protect dangerous criminals and persecute dog owners?
Drug dealers, rapists, murderers and child molesters in our country now have more rights in Ontario than someone who owns a short-coated dog. When looked at closely this law makes no sense at all and it is appalling that so many Ontarians seem unconcerned about these violations of Charter rights.
To every citizen who brushes this issue aside thinking that it does not matter because they don't have that kind of dog I would ask you to remember the chilling words from Pastor Martin Niemöller who was imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp from 1937 - 1945. Niemöller's quotation warns about the consquences of not opposing tyranny at its first instances:
Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists,
but I was neither, so I did not speak out.
Then they came for the Jews,
but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out.
And when they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out for me."
- Pastor Martin Niemöller
Does this mean that we equate the current dog legislation with Nazism? Of course not! But, the principles of standing against injustice are the same. Our Charter of Rights and Freedoms is something we must fight for, even if the violation does not apply to us individually. It is time for every Canadian to stand up and speak out.
Please, demand that every federal candidate answer one question: are you prepared to safeguard the rights of all Canadian citizens and if so, what are you going to do to protect the rights of all dog owners in Ontario?
Author: The Banned Aid Coalition
Banned Aid is a coalition of five dog organizations who are working together to defeat breed specific legislation in Canada and supports dangerous dog legislation that applies equally to all dogs and dog owners.