[titiaamor]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2012/07/24/pitbull-wicca-ordered-to-be-euthanized.html

It seems this dog deserves due process. The photo accompanying the article is heart-wrenching, with the owner on the floor in his suit, and the dog muzzled. :redface:


I did find this interesting resource. It took me 3 tries to spot the Am. Pit Bull Terrier.


http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/findpit.html

 

[Loki Love]

Wicca was euthanized today @ 5pm. I'm so ashamed of my city right now.

 

[mashlee08]

Oh my goodness that photo breaks my heart...

 

[Gally]

I am sad to call myself a Canadian today.

 

[momtolabs]

So sad and it happens a lot It happened to a family member. She had a lab/boxer mix. He was SO sweet once he got to know you. He never growled/bit anyone(except my butt,lol) but was shy. A neighbor called the cops saying it bit her and that it was a pit bull. Johnny was shot in my aunts apartment. Then(still alive) PTS at the shelter. My aunt didn't have money for court but moved out of that town as soon as possible.

it turns out the neighbors own dog bit her but she didn't like Johnny and called the cops. There are some messed up people out there.

 

[aiw]

Johnny was shot in my aunts apartment

WHAT?!!! The cops came into her house and shot her dog?! After his first incident? Didn't even take him to AC for a temperament test, to confirm the accusation or at least for a humane euth. Thats just... monstrous. I don't even know what to say. Your aunt must be traumatized, my heart goes out to you all.

 

[momtolabs]

WHAT?!!! The cops came into her house and shot her dog?! After his first incident? Didn't even take him to AC for a temperament test, to confirm the accusation or at least for a humane euth. Thats just... monstrous. I don't even know what to say. Your aunt must be traumatized, my heart goes out to you all.

Yes, she is traumatized from it all. She has a new dog now, Raider a GSD. And is super protective of him. I am the only person allowed to take Raider out of her sight. I have taken him places with me ect.. but other than that she is the only one allowed to take him places. Raider lives with her parents currently and he is not allowed to even go places with them. She misses Johnny a lot and most the time blames herself for what happened.

 

[spanielorbust]

WHAT?!!! The cops came into her house and shot her dog?! After his first incident?

As a person with a sibling that is a police officer I have to suggest part of this story is missing. There is something not being related or told.

I have no doubt that some police officers are heavy handed, but police do not get to barge into people's homes with the intent of shooting their dogs.

SOB

 

[Willowy]

I have no doubt that some police officers are heavy handed, but police do not get to barge into people's homes with the intent of shooting their dogs.

No, but they can barge into your house under some other pretense, claim to feel "threatened" by the dog, and shoot it. I know people this has happened to. Unfortunately, some law enforcement people will take advantage if they think the person doesn't have the resources for a lawyer. Same for the original story---I doubt they'd have tried that if he had a lawyer on retainer.

(And my dad was in LE so I know how it is. There's good and bad in everything)

 

[momtolabs]

I am saying what i was told.

 

[spanielorbust]

I'd still like to hear the full story instead of running with tidbits and making assumptions about the motives of police officers, who are for the most part wonderful people who often risk their own lives trying to protect our families. This may be the case of the one off moronic officer but I'm not ready to assume that without more info.

SOB

 

[xxxxdogdragoness]

What actually happened? It says that someone was bitten but they couldn't find a 'mark' something about someone being injured? Tho I have almost had a prob when one of my puppies (he was a JRT for gods sake :-/) bear, when I was at petsmart & a child came up behind me (I was reading a very Intresting article, bear was right beside me minding his own business) & picked him up, feeling unbalanced, he struggled & jumped down, in the process scratched the kid, thr mom went hysterical saying he hsd bitten her but other customers luckily vouched for me saying that it was HER kid in the wrong.

But... YIKES tho :-S

 

[aiw]

police officers, who are for the most part wonderful people who often risk their own lives trying to protect our families.

I agree with you here. Maybe he was scared and bit one of the officers? Even still it should have been AC responding who would better be able to deal with a frightened dog. I have trouble imagining a situation in which this couldnt have been avoided, or dealt with more humanely. Even if they suspected a vicious dog lived there it should have been AC responding with a warrant not officers responding with guns. Unfortunately there are going to be some bad apples in every group. Law enforcement is a powerful profession and its been my experience that SOME members abuse that power.

I wonder if it was some other kind of injury. Last month my aunt was trampled (literally) by a huge black lab. No bite but in the fall she dislocated her shoulder and broke her foot.

 

[titiaamor]

Back to Wicca and Montreal, Canada.....Wicca scratched a woman on the belly (resolved with a band-aid) and jumped on the responding EMT.

Quebec does not have animal control. Apparently the woman did not want Wicca put down. There's a gap in the story- why was an EMT called?

So terribly sad. We've come a long way, but still have a long way to go.

 

[momtolabs]

Back to Wicca and Montreal, Canada.....Wicca scratched a woman on the belly (resolved with a band-aid) and jumped on the responding EMT.

Quebec does not have animal control. Apparently the woman did not want Wicca put down. There's a gap in the story- why was an EMT called?

So terribly sad. We've come a long way, but still have a long way to go.

Was it a deep scratch?

NV I see only a band-aid was used. Maybe just in case of infection or something? Sometimes people over-react with scratches in stuff too. If there was a lot of blood they could have thought it was worse then it was.

 

[Willowy]

I don't really understand what happened. I also don't know about Quebec's government and what kind of civil liberties are extended (or not) to their citizens. But they shouldn't be seizing and killing somebody's dog without due process. Just sad all around.

 

[spanielorbust]

What do you call due process? Apparently courts were involved. I think that if someone was willing to manage this dog it probably shouldn't have been euthanized, but it looks like those in charge in Montreal do not agree.

MONTREAL - A female pit bull was put to death Thursday after an injunction request to stay the euthanization was denied in Quebec Superior Court Wednesday afternoon.

The dog, Wicca, was seized Monday by the Berger Blanc pound after weeks of legal wrangling and the dog owner disputing the facts of the case. According to court documents, Wicca jumped up on a female passerby on June 7 in Villeray, scratching and biting her abdomen. The dog later reportedly bit a paramedic who came to treat the passerby. The dog’s owner, Chris Papakostas, told The Gazette there is no proof the woman was bitten, only scratched, and he noted the paramedic’s version of the story changed between the police report and the court document. Neither the passerby nor the paramedic were treated in hospital.

Meanwhile, the city of Montreal says it is looking for a new way to deal with dogs deemed dangerous enough to be put down.

“If a dog harms, bites or attacks a person, there should only be one sentence and that’s euthanasia,” said Martine Painchaud, spokesperson for Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay. “But what we’re saying is that the owner who contests the euthanasia decision should have 24 hours to find an expert and do that.”

Painchaud said the clause will be included in an overhaul of animal control policies to be proposed by the central city to the boroughs this fall.

According to court documents, police felt the woman victim needed medical attention and they called an ambulance. The woman was treated on the scene and did not make a police report. A paramedic who went to Papakostas to ask whether the dog had all her shots said in a police report the animal “gripped” his pants with her teeth and that he felt pain in one testicle as a result. He was not hospitalized.

The dog “jumped up on him and her snout hit his crotch,” Papakostas countered. “It was my fault for letting her leash go a little bit after (the paramedic) said he was not afraid of dogs.”

In a letter written for Wicca, Papakostas apologized for the outcome and for not being able to protect her. The letter was posted on a Facebook page called Montreal Dog Blog.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/bull+Wicca+euthanized+Berger+Blanc/6999931/story.html

A pit bull was on death row Tuesday after two court orders to have it put down and a candle-lit vigil and a petition to save the animal. Officials say the dog bit a woman and a paramedic.

Lucie Bernier, a spokesperson for the borough of Villeray/St. Michel/Park Extension, where the dog apparently bit two people June 7, said “we don’t question court judgments.” The borough was waiting for the city’s legal department to say when the animal should be put down, although it was likely to be within 48 hours of when the dog was seized on Monday, she said.

Wicca, a 5 year-old American Staffordshire Bull Terrier, was being kept in detention at the Berger Blanc pound in east-end Rivière des Prairies. “All we’re waiting for is a fax with the order to carry out the euthanasia,” Alexandrine, an employee at Berger Blanc, said on Tuesday. “It’s up to the city now.”

But animal rights advocates said Wicca’s case highlights the fact that there is no humane protocol in place citywide for dogs that are deemed dangerous.

“Right now it’s up to a city (or borough) official to say if the dog should be put down or not,” said Sophie Gaillard, assistant director of animal advocacy at the SPCA in Montreal.

“Your dog could be defending you from an assailant and end up being ordered to be put down.”

Gaillard said the city of Montreal is considering new regulations for dogs that are deemed dangerous as it revamps the city’s animal control policies. She said animals should not be penalized because of their breed but should be evaluated by a trained animal behaviourist before it is to be euthanized.

http://www.canada.com/life/bull+Wicca+death/6982305/story.html

It appears there are differing versions as to what happened . . . as always. It may never be clear.

SOB