Bill 128 could be tougher, dog attack victims say

Three years almost to the day after its entry into force, Bill 128, which regulates dogs deemed dangerous in Quebec, continues to divide. While those who work with animals slam it, victims of dog attacks wish it were tougher.

Created in 2019, the Quebec Association of Dog Attack Victims (AQVAC) initially called for Bill 128 to have more teeth. She advocated zero tolerance to avoid any risk of recurrence in a dog that attacks a human as well as the creation of a provincial register of attacks.

The founding members of AQVAC, Dominique Alain and Geneviève Piacentini, violently attacked by mastiffs in Potton and Saint-Césaire in 2019, as well as Lise Vadnais, whose sister Christiane was killed by a dog three years earlier, felt that the law prioritized “the rights of dog owners” to the detriment of the safety of citizens.

Today, these victims believe that the law still does not meet its objective of ensuring better public safety against potentially dangerous dogs. They particularly question the way of evaluating dogs.

“Many municipalities have delegated the evaluation of dogs to animal welfare societies, raises Anne Castaigne, daughter of Ms. Piacentini. It seems to go against their mission. Above all, we would have liked to have more precision on this in what the behavioral assessment consists of. There have been discussions with the association of veterinarians, but they do not seem to have all the necessary training in animal behavior. There is work to be done.”

“All that does is put the burden of a very meaningful decision in the hands of the municipalities, where often we all know each other, including the owner of the dangerous dog,” says Ms. Alain.

“In addition, it can be costly for a municipality to defend its decision, taken to ensure the protection of a citizen, if the dog’s guardian decides to go to court to contest it,” she adds.

Hold owners accountable

The AQVAC still pleads for greater civil liability for owners of aggressive dogs, in particular so that they compensate their victims.

“We have been asking for a long time that the owners of dangerous dogs be required to take out civil liability insurance to cover the risks”, explains Ms. Alain who, with her spouse, is claiming $ 675,000 in damages to those they hold. responsible for their misfortunes resulting from the attack.

The founders of AQVAC would also like the criminal responsibility of dog owners to be better recognized and for this to result in harsher sentences.

In January, Mario Fortier, whose two dogs on the loose violently attacked Ms. Piacentini, was sentenced to 90 days in house jail to be served on weekends, after a guilty plea. A sentence accompanied by one year’s probation and a hundred hours of community service, which Lise Vadnais describes as “a bit scandalous”.

“It’s really minimal. He found a way to get away with it,” she laments. The owner of the dog who killed his sister more than six years ago had not been criminally charged.

“We victims will live with trauma for the rest of our lives. It’s terrible. It’s like coming back from the war, being attacked alive by dogs. will have to live, all because of an owner who was negligent. And he will spend 30 days in prison at home?” adds Dominique Alain. In his case, the guard of his assailants received a sentence of six months in prison, 240 hours of community service and a ban on owning a dog for the rest of his life.

Attack victims compare a dangerous dog to a loaded gun that you don’t know when you’ll pull the trigger. “The sentences are far from having the same severity, however”, illustrates Ms. Castaigne.

This report by La Presse Canadienne was first published in French and translated by CityNews