Some N.S. towns have tried to ban ‘dangerous’ dog breeds without much success

A cane corso competes at the 140th Westminster Kennel Club dog show, Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016, at Madison Square Garden in New York. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Mary Alter

HALIFAX — At least two Nova Scotia municipalities have tried to ban certain dog breeds in recent years, but neither local government was able to enforce its bylaw.

One of the towns, the tiny fishing community of Clark’s Harbour, is about 50 kilometres southwest of Shelburne, N.S., near where a boy was attacked by two cane corsos and a Rottweiler last weekend. The boy, who school officials have identified as a 13-year-old Shelburne Regional High School student, was airlifted to a Halifax hospital but later died.

Police say the investigation is ongoing. No charges have been laid and RCMP say the dogs’ owners are co-operating with the investigation.

In 2019, a judge dismissed Clark’s Harbour’s order for a man to get rid of his therapy dog, thought to be a mix of chocolate Labrador and pit bull, after a DNA test confirmed it was a mix of five breeds, none of which was banned by the town. Pit bulls, Rottweilers and their mixes were all on the prohibited list.

Clark’s Harbour’s current mayor, Clay Kenney, was not in office at the time of the ruling. In an interview Thursday, he said the court case was costly for the small municipality with a population of about 700. The mayor, distantly related to the boy killed in the Shelburne attack, said the bylaw has never been lifted, but it’s unlikely the town would try to enforce it.

“It cost a town a lot of money for nothing,” Kenney said.

“Basically it is coming off the books because there’s no good to have a bylaw because it’s unenforceable.”

In Nova Scotia, municipalities are responsible for dog bylaws. The Municipality of the District of Guysborough used to have a ban on “fierce or dangerous” dogs breeds like pit bulls or Rottweilers. In 2018, it tried to order an owner to get rid of a dog that was mostly pit bull, but council ultimately walked back the order and repealed the bylaw.

The Nova Scotia SPCA says on its website it opposes “breed-specific legislation” and says a lack of training and socialization is usually the root cause of bad behaviour, not the breed.

Camille Labchuk, executive director of Animal Justice, a national animal law advocacy non-profit, says there’s no evidence breed bans increase public safety and they’re generally not enforced. She notes Ontario has banned pit bulls since 2005, but she still sees them on the sidewalks every day.

“What experts say is that what’s much more important for protecting people is educating dog owners, registering dogs so the public and the state knows where they’re living, (and) providing information to the public about how to keep dogs and humans safe,” she said in an interview Thursday.

“But simply banning breeds doesn’t seem to have much of an impact.”

Labchuk says there’s some scientific debate over the effectiveness of DNA testing to determine a dog’s breed. She says there have been studies where people have been shown pictures of dogs and been asked to identify the pit bulls. She says they usually fail the quiz.

“People assume that when a dog looks a certain way, that dog is a pit bull, but it’s often not the case,” she said.

Other Canadian jurisdictions have tried to ban dangerous dogs, and ended up scrapping the rules.

Edmonton repealed its pit bull ban in 2012, and now focuses its bylaws on dogs known to have attacked people or animals.

Montreal had a pit bull ban but did away with it in 2017. Dogs with bad behaviour, regardless of breed, are now subject to stricter rules like evaluations and muzzling. Dogs over 20 kilograms must wear a halter or harness attached to the leash.

Winnipeg still has a ban on pit bulls and dogs that look like them.

Several countries still have bans. In Germany, pit bulls are banned, and several German states have restrictions on other dogs like various breeds of mastiffs. In the U.K., there’s prohibitions on pit bulls and breeds like Japanese Tosas, Dogo Argentinos and XL bullies.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 9, 2026.

Devin Stevens, The Canadian Press