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

The City of Montreal says the court-ordered suspension last week of thesections ofits 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 appealsubmitted Wednesday totheCourt of Appeal of Quebec.

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Lawyers for the City of Montrealargue that "fundamental principles of public law" dictate thatall sections of the bylaw concerning pit bull-type dogs should remain in effect until a verdict is reached in anSPCA-ledcourtchallenge of those rules.

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

Last week, Superior Court JusticeLouis Gouin sidedwith the SPCA and co-plaintiff Odette Loursin theirrequest for a suspension of those sections, rulingthat the bylaw's "vague" and "imprecise" languageconcerning pit bull-type dogsneeded clarification.

The city'sappeal request says concerns raised by theSPCAand Loursare not exceptional nor serious enough to merit the suspension of new rules approved by "Montreal's elected representatives."

The citycontends 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'slegalconcerns with the bylaw were "vague" and that he erred in procedure.

"The process followed was fundamentally marredand the appellant respectfully submits that this reason is enough to lift the suspension order andreverse the judgment," the notice ofappeal reads.

It furtherdisputes Gouin'sdecision that the SPCAoritsco-plaintiffwould suffer "irreparable harm" if the provisions on pit bull-type dogs went into effect.

Instead, the city argues the public interestwill suffer "patent, major, and irreparable harm" if the bylaw suspension is not lifted.

The SPCAdid not comment on the City of Montreal's arguments.

No date has been set for a court hearing on the appeal request.

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