I feel the need to focus on something positive, and give credit where credit is due.
Back in 2006, Calgary created a new law in response to concerns about pet issues. The law is called the Responsible Pet Ownership Bylaw, which in itself is a great improvement over Animal Control Bylaw, as they are called in most municipalities. According to the City of Calgary's website:
“Under the Responsible Pet Ownership Bylaw both cat and dog owners are responsible for licensing their pets and for ensuring that they remain on the owner's property or, when off the property, under the owner's control. By using the term “animal” rather than “cat” or “dog” the new bylaw addresses cat and dog owners equitably and helps alter the perception that cats are not as valuable as dogs.”
The law can be viewed online at :
http://www.calgary.ca/docgallery/bu/cityclerks/23m2006.pdf
Calgary has, in a very creative and well thought out move, provided some incentives for timely licensing and renewal: I found this on their website for example “So far, so good: 1,489 free six-month licences registered, 7,874 expired licences renewed without penalty or backdating, and 691 retractable dog leashes given to dog owners with current pet licences. These statistics reflect Calgarians' overwhelming support of The City of Calgary Animal Services' dog and cat licensing campaign. For more information phone 3-1-1, watch our licensing video 
(4.1 MB) or come to Animal Services at 2201 Portland Street SE. “
So often the education piece of the solution to societal problems is missing with governments, but not with Calgary. Also available to view online is their dog bite prevention brochure:
http://www.calgary.ca/docgallery/bu/animalservices/dog_bite_prevention.pdf
Kudos to Calgary for taking a multi-faceted approach to animal control issues. The best part is, this combined approach is working, and is being tweaked to work even better.
The Calgary Sun reported today that:
“The city's community and protective services committee next week will be asked to tweak the responsible pet ownership bylaw, imposing new fines as well as setting up provisions asking judges to prevent owners of vicious dogs from owning another animal in Calgary.
Bylaw boss Bill Bruce said the city wants to make sure parks and pathways are as safe as they can be and that means making sure dog owners take their responsibilities seriously.
“We've got the best vicious dog bylaw in North America and it's going to get tighter,” he said.
“A dog's aggression is a product of its owner, not the dog, and we need to break that cycle.” ”
View the entire article at http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2008/10/04/6976771-sun.html
Way to go Calgary! Those of us fighting against breed specific laws will continue to point out your success to governments all over North America.