The London Humane Society is reminding residents about Ontario's pit bull ban after a puppy was dropped at the shelter.
Executive Director Judy Foster says the four-month-old pit bull was abandoned at the humane society on Monday.
"We suspect that once the owner realized that they weren't allowed to have the puppy legally, they probably didn't want to have to deal with questions about where the puppy had come from," says Foster. "We suspect they made the decision to bring it here knowing that the puppy was likely to be transferred out to a safe place where it doesn't face a ban. It may be that there are other puppies out there from this litter."
The humane society is working to transfer the puppy out of province. Ontario banned pit bulls in August 2005 but this incident has Foster concerned that people are continuing to breed them.
"We want to make sure people are aware of the ban so that they don't end up bringing a pit bull puppy into their home and realizing that they have to surrender it," says Foster. "We think it's possible that young couples, in their 20's, may not be aware of the ban because they would have been 18 or 19 when the ban came into force. It's not like this subject is talked about every day in the general public because 11 years have passed."
Pit bull dogs living in the province when the ban was introduced were grandfathered, meaning the youngest pit bulls in Ontario would be 11 years old.
