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Who will decide whether this dog lives or dies?
Attack left a boy with 200 stitches
Judge to make ruling tomorrow
BILL TAYLOR
FEATURE WRITER
The worst thing about him seems to be his name — Bandit.
The hefty chocolate brown pit bull-Labrador cross leaps about and runs around and chases a ball. Bandit, says Toronto Humane Society president Tim Trow, "is a sweet guy to walk and play with ... a teenager. We were told he was 2 years old but our vets think he may be younger. He's never had rules. Now he's learning them."
But this is a dog with horrific violence in its past and a question mark over its future. A question mark that could affect the way humane societies all over Ontario operate, according to Pell Capone, the Toronto society's lawyer.
A judge is expected to rule tomorrow on who has the right to determine whether Bandit lives or dies — the humane society, which has had the dog in its care for almost six months, or the City of Toronto.
Three-year-old Daniel Collins, grandson of Bandit's owner Phyllis Young, needed 200 stitches in his face after the 35-kilogram dog attacked him Aug. 24. The toddler reportedly had tried to kiss Bandit. The police took the dog to the humane society after a city pound refused to accept it, Capone said. A few days later, the city served an order that Bandit be destroyed. The society went to court, saying it couldn't act on the order. The order was suspended and the city filed an appeal.
"There's never been a charge like this brought by anyone against the humane society ... for an animal given into its custody after a bite incident," Capone said.
Eletta Purdy, manager of Toronto Animal Services, said Bandit didn't go to the pound because of bad communication between the police officer who called and an inexperienced employee who "didn't explore the question deeply enough. It was an extremely intense situation from what I gather and the police officer was under a lot of pressure. It was a lack of understanding. Otherwise, we would have taken the dog in."
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`Every time the society takes in an animal, anyone could
go to court and lay a charge.'
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The humane society and the five city pounds operate under different provincial legislation, the Ontario Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and the Dog Owners' Liability Act, Capone said. "Under these two pieces of legislation, the party holding the animal would assess it and decide if it should be alive or dead."
If the judge rules that the Dog Owners' Liability Act takes precedence, he said, "every humane society in the province could be held civilly and criminally responsible after the fact for someone else's actions. Every time the society takes in an animal, anyone could go to court and lay a charge."
Purdy said the city has no interest in setting a legal precedent or "having any impact on what the humane society does or the legislation they operate under. Our concern is the health and safety of people and other animals. The dog is turning out to be quite a concern for public health and safety. We wouldn't be pursuing this matter if we didn't think it was a threat."
Capone and Trow said a decision in their favour won't necessarily mean Bandit's life will be spared. But Trow believes the dog could be successfully adopted by someone with plenty of space for it to run around.
"We have a staff of 10 vets and three animal behaviourists," he said. "They would make a professional evaluation."
Jennifer Humphries, a humane society canine services co-ordinator, is one of the people who would assess the dog on "everything from body posture to his reaction in any number of situations. Is he possessive about food and toys? Shy with strangers? Sensitive to pain — if you stepped on his toe, for instance. Can you handle him, touch him? What happened to the little boy... that, of course, is totally foremost in my mind."
Trow exercises Bandit regularly and described him as "boisterous, happy ... he's learned to sit, to shake a paw, to lie down, to come. He's obedient and friendly. He seems to like everybody. I've seen nothing since he came here, no hostility.
"I'm not unmindful that something dreadful happened. I'm not trying to deny reality. I don't want to do this in an emotional way. I would suggest there's maybe emotion on the other side, too. A lot of people have called and want to adopt him. But he needs a professional evaluation. We're extremely qualified to make that decision."