Montreal pit bull owners need more time to complete permit requests, lawyer says

A Montreal lawyer says she's planning to ask a judge to grant pit bull owners more time to complete their request for a special permit needed tokeep their dogs.

Anne-France Goldwatersays around 60 people have responded to her offertohelp fight a City of Montreal-issuedletter telling them they had four weeks to find a new home for their pit bull outside the city.

The letter said their application for the special permit needed to keep their pit bull under Montreal's new dangerous dog bylaw was incomplete.

• City ombudsman offers to evaluate files of pit bull owners who received letter from city

Pit bull owners had until March 31 to apply for the permit and until June 1 to provide all the necessary documents to support their application.

The letter threatens legal action and the seizure of the dog if they do not comply with the order.

"I'm going to ask a Superior Court judge nothing more but to give these poor people an additional delay on the basis that the law is there to serve the people, it's not there to punish people," Goldwater told CBC.

City accused of losing documents

Goldwater said many of the dog owners she's hearing from claim they filed the necessary papers with the city.

"These are people who claim and who are evidencing that they have filled all their documents and it would appear from what we're seeing that the city may have lost their documents," she told CBC News.

"They've been told they have one month to get rid of their innocent, healthy, wonderful family dog for no other reason than maybemaybea paper is missing in their file."

She said the city should not be threatening citizens who tried to follow the right steps and obtain the necessary permit for their dog.

"These are law-abiding Montrealers who registered their dogs and paid the $150," she said.

"They're being told 'get rid of your dog' and I think that is unconscionable and doesn't reflect my idea of what the law should be in society."

Goldwater said the city should be working with these dog owners to help them in their efforts to complywith the law instead of turning them into "outlaws."

The city ombudsman's office released astatementThursday, saying it has received several complaints about the letter. The office says it can't change city rules, but it can see that theyare applied fairly.

• Confusion, anger over Montreal's handling of pit bull permits