Statement

Montreal, December 4 2019 – The regulation published this morning by the Minister of Public Security includes several measures for which the SPCA has previously advocated and that would contribute to ensuring public safety, such as the mandatory registration of dogs in their local municipality. It also grants municipalities the power to order a dog’s guardian or owner, where circumstances warrant, to comply with certain measures, including a prohibition on owning a dog for a determined period of time.

However, the SPCA deems that it is necessary to create a provincial dog bite registry, rather than simply gathering data at the municipal level, in order to centralize data for the purposes of obtaining precise and comprehensive epidemiological information to guide future legislation or public policy concerning dangerous dogs.

Furthermore, we are of the opinion that the government should implement a number of other essential measures, as complements to the new regulation, in order to reduce the number and severity of bites. These measures include the development and funding of public education programs, ensuring access to sterilization services, increased oversight of the breeding and sale of dogs, and stricter enforcement of animal protection legislation.