The City of Toronto has made more changes to dealing with dangerous dogs and it seems some Torontonians are still doubtful on how effective they will be.
These new changes come after the initial recommendations made in March, including a dog registry with the ward number, dog’s name, breed, and colour, as well as the date of the dangerous act that can be easily searched by the public.
Starting today and for the next month, city staff will visit owners of all dogs who have received a dangerous dog order. There are currently 373 dangerous dog orders across the city, according to a release.
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Visits will be prioritized based on how severe the incidents were.
Along with owners having to post signs on their property, they are required to follow other responsibilities as part of their dangerous dog order.
This includes muzzling their dogs while in public, putting dangerous dog tags on their pets, and ensuring their pet goes through obedience training.
Dangerous dogs must also be microchipped and are not allowed to roam in off-leash areas.
All dog owners must keep their dog on a leash except in designated off-leash areas.
If owners don’t comply, they may have to pay a fine of $615 or a court-issued fine of up to $100,000 if convicted.
Some Torontonians on social media are wary about whether putting yard signs up will be effective.
“Instead of more signs, the money could be better spent having staff on the streets finding off leash dog walkers and owners. The parks are full of them, including parks with children’s playgrounds. It is happening due to no accountability in place to prevent it,” one person commented on X.
“How will a sign help the individual getting mauled by the dangerous dog?” another person said.
Others believe owners should take more responsibility.
“Hopefully none of the city staff get hurt during these visits, if they can’t control their dog outside I doubt they can at home,” a Reddit user said.
“Why are dangerous dogs allowed to begin with? They shouldn’t exist in the city, province or country. There you go, just saved the city some time and effort,” another person commented.
And others think dangerous dogs shouldn’t be allowed in the city at all.
“This is a good step in the right direction but I still think we need a complete ban on some breeds,” a Reddit user commented.
All dangerous dogs data can be accessed on the city data registry.
