Pit bull bylaw suspension harms public interest, Montreal says in appeal request

City lawyers say suspended rules on pit bull-type dogs should remain in effect

CBC.ca
Oct 12, 2016

The City of Montreal says the court-ordered suspension last week of the sections of its new animal control bylaw concerning 'pit bull-type dogs' puts private interests ahead of the public interest and must be overturned.

The city laid out its case against the suspension in a five-page request to appeal submitted Wednesday to the Court of Appeal of Quebec.

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Lawyers for the City of Montreal argue that "fundamental principles of public law" dictate that all sections of the bylaw concerning pit bull-type dogs should remain in effect until a verdict is reached in an SPCA-led court challenge of those rules.

The city's new animal control bylaw went into effect Oct. 3.

Last week, Superior Court Justice Louis Gouin sided with the SPCA and co-plaintiff Odette Lours in their request for a suspension of those sections, ruling that the bylaw's "vague" and "imprecise" language concerning pit bull-type dogs needed clarification.

The city's appeal request says concerns raised by the SPCA and Lours are not exceptional nor serious enough to merit the suspension of new rules approved by "Montreal's elected representatives."

The city contends that the suspension puts private interests ahead of the public interest, contrary to jurisprudence, and it claims Gouin's ruling did not take the public interest into account.

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It also said that Gouin's legal concerns with the bylaw were "vague" and that he erred in procedure.