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An animal rights group says the tragic death of a 3- year-old-Maple Ridge boy should finally make city politicians enact new laws to crack down on the problem of yard dogs.
The young boy was killed when he was attacked by up to four dogs being kept in his own home.
The Animal Advocates Society of BC says it appears no lessons were learned from the near-fatal mauling of Vancouver teenager, Shenica White, two years ago.
Pamela Post has this report.

Judy Stone: nothing has changed for the yard dogs of Vancouver.

CBC: Judy Stone speaks for the Animal Advocates Society. Her group's mandate is to speak out against the inhumane treatment of dogs that could lead them to be a danger to humans - especially children. She says the backyards of Vancouver are filled with dogs, bred to be dangerous, kept chained and confined in miserable isolation - something she says is the worst form of torture for dogs, and the thing most likely to make them snap. She says her group's appeals to the city of Vancouver to ban the keeping of yard dogs, and regulate the guard dog breeding industry have fallen on deaf ears.

Judy Stone: we warned after the attack on Shenica White that this would happen again, that politicians had to ban the keeping of dogs in yards, isolating them, and making them dangerous.

CBC: Yesterday, SPCA officials, with the help of police, took the dogs from the boy's home, and euthanized them. Three of the four dogs were Rottweilers, a breed along with pit bulls, and other dogs bred for fighting and protection, Stone would like to see highly regulated. She says license fees over a thousand dollars to own a dangerous breed, and city officials cracking down on the lucrative guard dog industry are the first two steps to protecting vulnerable children, and exploited animals.

pamela post, cbc news, vancouver.