MONTREAL -- A legal bid to save a pit bull-type dog from euthanasia after it attacked six people, including four children, in Montreal last August has been rejected.
Lawyer Anne-France Goldwater argued in court last week the section of a municipal bylaw declaring a dog must be euthanized once declared dangerous contravenes provincial animal welfare legislation.
But Superior Court Justice Lukasz Granosik ruled today that the request to have the dog named Shotta sent to a refuge rather than put down came too late. And he upheld the bylaw's provision on dangerous dogs.
Goldwater, acting for the dog's owner, argued it should be sent to a specialized refuge in New York, where it would be kept away from the public and never adopted to a home.
A lawyer for the City of Montreal had said the dog's actions on the day of the attack clearly showed it was dangerous, and municipal authorities had every right to order its death.
The Crown announced last week there would be no criminal charges against the woman who was watching the dog when the attacks took place.
