Sarnia Animal Control murders puppies Archives - French Bulldogs by Bullmarket

Sarnia's New City Crest

The idiocy in Sarnia continues, with talking head Brad Loosley now claiming that Sarnia Animal Control Officers are “highly trained professionals”, with opinions that outweigh those of internationally respected breed experts with decades of experience judging and assessing Pit Bulls.

Alan Bennet has been a dog breeder for 30 years, and a show dog judge since 1993. In that time, he has, in his own words, “Judged (American Staffordshire Terriers) all over the world”. AmStaff, by the way, is the fancy kennel club name for the dogs the rest of the world calls Pit Bulls. Mr. Bennet recently donated his time and expertise to the owners of the death row dogs in Sarnia, examing the dogs, and submitting a written report to the city of Sarnia. The dogs, says Bennet, are NOT Pit Bulls, or anything ‘substantially similar’.

From the article in the Observer:

“These dogs definitely don’t look pitbullish. Their chests are too narrow and they’re much taller than the bull breed.”

Not good enough for Sarnia Animal Control, however, who won’t back down from their own assessment, and who claim that their own ‘experts’ knowledge of Pit Bulls outweighs that of a man who has been paid to travel around the world judging them professionally. No, Sarnia AC is sticking to its guns, and now also plans to murder the sire of the two puppies originally seized:

..the city has not returned the dogs despite Bennett’s input, says Sonya Pimentel, owner of an 11-month-old pup impounded by the city’s animal control officers nearly three weeks ago.

Her dog and another pup from the same litter, as well as the puppies’ father, will be euthanized unless the owners can prove their pets are not pitbulls or look “substantially similar” to one.

So, the owners have been told that they must ‘prove that their dogs are not Pit Bulls’, which they’ve attempted to do by retaining an actual, real live, honest to God expert on Pit Bulls. “Not good enough!” claims Sarnia AC.

I think that the only thing now that can possibly save these dogs is an outpouring of public anger and outrage. I suggest you direct yours to Sarnia City Hall, since Animal Control has obviously circled the wagons and is not backing down. I’ve heard that they’re no longer answering the phone in their department – a luxury that I doubt City Hall has.

Why not let them know how you personally feel about their city’s policy of seizing dogs off the street, unprovoked, and sentencing them to death?

Sarnia is a major border crossing between Canada and the USA – perhaps a refusal to use that crossing, with the concurrent drop in city income from travelers, might hold some sway with Sarnia’s powers that be. After all, are you willing to take the chance of driving through Sarnia with your dogs? Are you confident that your dogs could escape being labeled as ‘substantially similar’ to Pit Bulls, when ‘substantially similar’ for Sarnia Animal Control seems to mean only slightly blocky headed and short coated?

Contact information for Sarnia City Hall –

City Manager – Located on the 2nd Floor at City Hall

citymngr@sarnia.ca

Lloyd Fennell, City Manager

519 332-0330 Ext. 230

All departments report to the City Manager, by the way. Oh, and look what else I found – seems that Brad Loosley wears a few hats for the city of Sarnia.

Brad Loosley, Acting Deputy City Clerk

519 332-0330 ext. 258

That’s Brad’s direct line and extension. Go nuts.

According to the author of this newspaper article about an Arkansas “Pit Bull” attack, a Frenchie is not a Frenchie when it’s actually a Pit Bull. Ditto Bostons and (English) Bulldogs, by the way.

The American Pit Bull Terrier was bred first to bait bulls and bears. When baiting bulls was deemed inhumane, dog fighting became more popular, and the pit bull was used in the sport. The term pit bull today is used to refer to the specific breed as well as the Boxer, English Bulldog, Olde English Bulldogge, American Bulldog, French Bulldog, Alapaha Blue Blood Bulldog, Valley Bulldog, Boston Terrier and Bull Mastiff.

Note this sentence: “The term pit bull today is used to refer”.

Funny enough, that’s actually sort of accurate – after all, moronic politicians across the world have been referring to Boxers, Bulldogs, Frenchies, Pugs, Dogues De Bordeux, Bullmastiffs and just about any other dog breed you care to imagine as “Pit Bulls”.

In fact, the ‘term’ Pit Bull is pretty much just that – a ‘term’, used as a catch all to encompass just about any short haired, slightly blocky headed dog breed or mixed breed dog, anywhere in size from 15 pounds to 200 pounds. It no longer means anything – and it certainly no longer means the singular dog that the term was originally meant to designate, the breed now known as the American Pit Bull Terrier or American Staffordshire Terrier.

Consider Animal Control in Sarnia, Ontario. They, like so many other ACs in so many other cities, put the onus on the owners of dogs deemed to be ‘substantially like’ a Pit Bull to prove that their dog is NOT one. For Sarnia AC, paperwork proving parentage is not proof of the breed of the dog itself (don’t try to think about this too hard, as it will only cause your head to hurt).

So, if I was to walk Pickle, for example, through Sarnia – on a leash, law abiding and minding our own business – Sarnia AC could still pick Pickle up, impound her, and sentence her to euthanasia. And, since I have not yet registered her litter, the fact that I can prove that her mother is a French Bulldog and her father is a French Bulldog would not be enough for me to prove that she is a French Bulldog.

Of course, in some cities it would not matter if I could prove that she is a French Bulldog, since French Bulldog = Pit Bull = Banned = Dead.

Also, let me point out that a few cities out there have banned Pugs.

This is like banning marshmallows for having too many hard corners. It’s like banning kittens for being not fluffy enough. It’s like listening to idiot politicians who have zero clue about dog breeds, and ignoring the actual experts with concrete knowledge of dog bite issues.

It’s like living in Ontario, where Michael Bryant can drag a cyclist to his death, and come out of it as the injured party who was in fear for his life.