She has family in Montreal who would be affected by the new bylaw city council was preparing to vote on, she said. And because she has seen similar bans tried and fail. “I’m not willing to have my dog put down because of somebody’s uneducated opinion on it.” 
 
 City council was scheduled to vote on whether to adopt a new bylaw that will ban the acquisition of pit bull type dogs as of Oct. 3 and place strict restrictions on current owners that include muzzles and microchips for dogs and criminal background checks for owners. The debate and vote on the new bylaw, which is expected to pass because Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre’s administration has a near majority on council, will happen Tuesday. Pit bull owners, opposition party Projet Montréal and the SPCA have protested the breed ban as an unscientific, unenforceable bylaw that will force the killing of hundreds of innocent dogs and do little to improve safety. Related 
 
 “What we should be doing is consulting with the experts, looking at the information that is out there and developing a proper plan to implement measures,” said Projet Montréal councillor Sterling Downey. Montreal’s SPCA has said it will stop providing services for dogs if the city adopts the bylaw. If the law passes, it will be illegal to own a pit bull-type dog (American Staffordshire terriers, Staffordshire bull terriers and American pit bull terriers), any mixed breed dogs that have a part of those breeds, or a dog with similar physical characteristics unless a request has been made to register the dog under a special ownership permit by Dec. 31, 2016. They believe the pit bull got into the victim’s yard through a hole in the fence at the edge of her property.
– Starting Monday, residents of Montreal will no longer be allowed to own pit bulls "or pit bull-type dogs," the CBC reports. The controversial ban was put in place Tuesday by the city council, three months after a 55-year-old Montreal woman was killed by a neighbor's dog that entered her backyard (possibly through a hole in the fence, the Montreal Gazette reported at the time). The dog, which was shot and killed by police after it attacked one of the officers who responded to the scene, was originally reported to be a pit bull; however, authorities are still awaiting official DNA test results to determine the dog's breed, and the Humane Society claimed in July that the dog was registered as a boxer. The vote came down 37-23 in favor of the ban, which had been decried by animal rights advocates and protested by pit bull supporters. "This is very serious. It's not an object, it's not the right to seize a car—it's a right to take a member of your family and that should not (be) permitted," says one lawyer. But a city executive committee member argues, "A Montreal woman died because someone didn't have control of their dog." The ban will also include Staffordshire terriers, any mix including a banned breed, and "any dog that presents characteristics of one of those breeds." However, current owners can apply for a permit to be allowed to keep their pets. Animal rights advocates plan to launch a court challenge.