Wag the Dog

When I was a little girl, I thought that this country, Canada was fair, honourable, democratic, and a great place to live.  I guess I'm a bit jaded now.  I want to love my country; really I do.  I was brought up that way, by parents and especially a father who loved this country, were fiercely proud to be Canadian, and believed there really was no where better to live. 

Yikes!  What happened to that fair and wonderful country? A court in Canada has ruled my dogs dangerous and unpredictable based on NO actual evidence, because of their physical characteristics.  I am ashamed.  Not of my dogs of course, my dogs are just dogs who happen to have short hair, blocky heads, and athletic bodies.  They love everyone, and are responsible canine citizens.  I am ashamed of my country. 

The media in my country has betrayed me:  They have gone from reporting facts to sensationalizing anything and everything that might sell more papers or increase ratings.  It is no longer about news, it is about marketing.

The politicians have betrayed me:  They don't want to pass laws that are effective and fair to everyone, they want to seize the spotlight in any way they can in order to attain or retain power.  Given an option to do good with less attention, or create a buzz and do no good and a lot of harm, Ontario's politicians chose the latter:  At the expense of the lives of puppies and dogs.

The court system has betrayed me:  Allowing media reports to be used as though they were statistical data.  Shameful and irresponsible.  I can not use strong enough words to describe the sheer lack of diligence on the part of the court system in this country that allowed for the horrid, ill thought out and careless ruling in the Ontario Court of Appeal which has given governments of all levels the freedom to ban anything from Bullmastiffs to xylophones.  I am absolutely disgusted. 

For anyone who might think this doesn't matter because they don't care about “pitbulls” wake up.  This isn't all about pitbulls.  On the government side, it's about power and the ability to ban whatever they choose.  The Ontario government must feel some euphoria from banning as it seems to be a favourite solution for them to cure whatever supposedly ails society.  On the Animal Rights Activist side, it's about eliminating pets completely.  Don't care about “Pitbulls”, American Staffordshire Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers?  How about similar looking breeds?  Think your breed will never be banned?  Here's a news flash for some of you, there are movements out there to ban short legged breeds.  Long backed breeds.  Hairless breeds.  Short faced breeds.  How big of a leap is it to breeds that have had a history of genetic hip displaysia, or some other problem that can be largely fixed by careful screening?  It isn't about one breed, or two or three.  The movement pushing for “pitbull” bans is really pushing for the extinction of domestic pets.  Canada, at least Ontario, is helping that movement along. 

Another great unfair portion of this nonsense is financial.  If we are to continue our fight against this unfair legislation, we need $ and we need it now.  The government has deep taxpayer lined pockets – ironic being a have not province now – and we do not.  We beg.  We sell t-shirts and decals.  We will not be able to see this through without more financial support.  Please donate.  Every penny counts.  Help us see this through to the end, and maybe, just maybe, we can see some fairness come back to this country.