About Dogs

I know very little about dogs. I know they are faithful companions, protective of  owners ,particularly   when an infant come into the house. They growl a  fearsome warning if they detect a threat.

I know, if  a dog has a bone, it's sensible to keep your hand out  from between the dog and its bone.

There has been a dog in my house from time to time. I have exchanged  the warmth of  his affection.  .

But I do not want to be responsible for a dog. I believe if you take a dog into your home, you are responsible for providing all care and protection required. I have never been inclined to pick up after a dog. I have never been so affluent as to contemplate vet bills should they become necessary. I have never  felt  comfortable about a dog and an infant sharing  the same floor space.

I know just enough about dogs to know they merit their place in our society.

This morning, in our inbox there is a reference to

s. 4(1)(b) and (c) of the Dog Owners' Liability Act  against  allowing the dog to behave in a manner that poses a menace to the safety of persons or domestic animals.

I ask you to contemplate that wording: what would cause a dog to behave in a manner that poses a menace to the safety of persons or domestic animals?

In the right circumstances,  their nature .

The owner is not  tagged  with  a "dangerous" monicker. The dog is.

The owner can pay multiple fines. The dog  gets put down for following its  instinct.

When I was Mayor, we had to have a hearing once, to determine guilt or innocence of a dog for the killing or injury of  sheep.

The dog was a white husky. He  was caught in the act. His  owner was beside himself.  The dog was incarcerated in the Humane Society's shelter on Industry Sreet. 

I think we all felt pretty weird about  finding a  dog guilty of the crime accused.

It was about the same time the government stopped accepting  farmers' claims  for compensation against the killing of sheep by wolves. 

But I digress. We delivered the verdict. The dog was in the slammer. That night the dog was sprung from the slammer and never heard of in these parts again.

The late and former Councillor Ron Simmons, was out always in the night distributing the Globe and Mail. 
He brought in the news with a wide and wicked grin.

I was very glad never to have to participate in such an enterprise again.

Two weeks ago, when Council heard  the hearing on the current situation, I was happy to be occupied elesewhere and excused .

I don't know why the print colour changed to blue and then black again. Just one of the inexplicable vagaries of technology. I guess .

I've learned to live with it because I have to.

Not like  other stuff . Where another level of government can pass a law and charge  the lunkheads at the municipal level  with its prosecution.