Vancouver B.C. Loves Pitbulls!!
Posted on January 4, 2008
Filed Under chena, represent! | 17 Comments
Me, Chena and my roomate spent New Years Eve weekend on the road and in Vancouver BC. It was the first time I had been to Canada since I was a kid and I’ve been told numerous times to go to Vancouver if not Toronto. I know that Toronto has now banned pitbulls among other breeds in the city, which is completely disturbing so I was worried about what peoples attitudes in Vancouver would be. I of course found out if she was even allowed in the city, which she was, then I made sure that I had all the paperwork needed to exit the country, something I’m used to and is often a hassle. Surprisingly I only needed her rabies papers but since the only ones I have are in Spanish, I had to get her a shot the same day we were planning to drive over the border. The BC website did not have a “too soon” date for the shot so we took our chances and left around 6pm for a 7 hour drive. We spent the first night in an amazingly expensive house just before the border near Bellingham. My friends parents had just bought a house there and she was in town for the holidays. The border crossing was flawless, I put her rabies paper in my passport and they didn’t even mention her or ask any questions, I don’t eve know if they looked at the paper really. The first day we went to Stanley park, a huge area between Vancouver and North Vancouver on the water. There were people everywhere and many with dogs and having forgot Chena’s leash I was using my scarf as an alternative. At first I kept her on the leash just to sooth other peoples paranoia (like im used to doing) but soon enough I got tired of making her watch all the other dogs run freely. I let her off to run around and pee on everything while she ran up to other dogs to say hello, sniffed their butt and left. Only one person was “cautious” when she went over to greet them, but they were obviously horrible people anyway as they aggressively drug their dog and swung it by its leash to “save it” from Chenas wagging confusion. Even a lady with a small child was happy to see her son interested in Chena and let him pet her and not once looked nervous or afraid. I had her pose several times for photos and she was so professional at it people commented on her saying “she should be in commercials!” and some people were even taking pictures of her from behind me. It was awesome. Girls walking by on the trails didn’t hide behind their boyfriends and guys didn’t idiotically say “is that a pitbull?! badass!”… im so sick of people saying that I now tell stupid people “no, shes a poodle” and walk away. The hotel didn’t care about her breed and pretty much everyone pet her and said she was cute. One woman at the front desk was “worried” for the cleaning lady even after I assured her she had met the woman and wouldn’t hurt a fly. I left a note telling the woman that Chena was in the room and she didn’t have to clean it if she didn’t want and she did anyway, even after the woman at the desk was going to tell her not to because Chena “might be territorial”… a dog I’ve had for 9 years, who doesnt bark. and has lived and played with kittens and bunnies alike is suddenly going to kill a cleaning lady? right. Anyway, I thought it was funny that the room was clean and someone probably had a good time petting her as well. Overall, of the 4 countries and numerous cities Chena has now visited, VANCOUVER IS THE BEST! I’d even consider moving there if it means we didn’t have to deal with the ignorant discrimination we do every single day here in Portland (and did in Buenos Aires as well). We’ll find a place we can live happily soon enough. Canada’s a bit cold for me but It’s now on my list of possible places to live.
~Amber
p.s. This doesnt really say much for the status of any bans in the city but it does say that many people in Vancouver are pretty damn smart, sadly people and government are not always in agreement.. so lets hope for the best!
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- Save Pitbulls Womens V Neck Tee, I'm More afraid of your ignorance than you are of my dog! Pitbull Love!
- Save Pitbulls Womens Tee, I'm More afraid of your ignorance than you are of my dog! Pitbull Love!
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- Save Pitbulls Tee, I'm More afraid of your ignorance than you are of my dog! Pitbull Love!
A great story,
pit bull are the best dog ever 100 milion times nicer friendlyer cuter better looking and caring than golded retriver and best guard dog ever
I think this is a fantastic story… i live in vancouver and i have a ridgeback/pitbull and a golden retriever and they love eachother so much. it’s true, you don’t encounter much anxiety when you take out your pit here, but all it takes is one beautiful pitbull owned by a total loser to ruin it all. it reminds us all to be great canine representatives. i’m glad you both enjoyed your time here!
great story, but is it true that you have to mussle your pitbull in vancouver???
I dont think so, but I dont live there. No one said anything to me. For SURE in Toronto though.. sadly.
I live in Canada. Edmonton, AB to be specific. We have breed restrictions here, but they are not enforced at all. I bring my pit bull everywhere with no muzzle (he doesn’t need one!!!) and have never once been ticketed. People either LOVE them or HATE them here. I plan to move to BC, I don’t believe there are ANY restrictions in most BC cities, just aggressive animal bylaws which applies to any breed. The ABSOLUTE BEST place to live in Canada w/ a pit bull is Calgary, AB. There is no place with better animal control bylaws.
Hi, I live in Burnaby BC, and I have looked into the by-laws here (and in Vancouver) after I was almost fined $500 for having my little girl in the fenced front yard of our property when the mail carrier came around.
In the city of Vancouver and Burnaby any dog that is on the vicious dog list (pit bull, anything that is cross bread with a Pit Bull, any thing that looks like a Pit Bull, & American Staffordshire terriers), require that when your pit is on public property they need to by muzzled. When they are in your own yard they either need to be leashed and accompanied by an adult, or kenneled. (I still walk my little girl with NO muzzle as she does NOT need one)
I feel these by laws are archaic as they were put into place in 1990(ish).
Dog should be aggression tested once they are between one and two years of age to see if they are really a “vicious dog” as opposed to just being labeled that way due to the “bad apple owners” out there.
Your little girl. More like your little DEMON. This is dead by a long shot. These UGLY creatures will be banned.
Glad to hear your visit went so well! Vancouver is indeed a pit-friendly city, and they’re everywhere.
Vancouver does NOT have any breed specific legislation. They used to, but this was removed in 2005. Neighbouring suburbs like Richmond, Burnaby, and New West do have muzzle/leash laws enforced to different degrees.
Keith, I hope your ignorant hateful self gets everything you deserve, which is, to be eaten by a grizzly bear.
I live in downtown Vancouver and I see people with their Pitbulls all the time. Not once have I seen one that acted out aggressively. In fact, I’ve probably seen more vicious toy-breed dogs in person than I have ever with any medium to larger breeds in general.
I think it’s super sad when people single out a breed of dog and cities enforce a law banning it’s ownership. It’s unfair to the owners out there who make sure their dogs are perfect little canine citizens. And who’s to say that other breeds can’t be just as vicious under the right (wrong?) conditions?
When people blame the entire breed for the misconduct of a few dogs it makes me wonder if they lash out towards an entire ethnic group because they’ve read one or two stories where crimes were committed by people of that ethnicity.
Exactly Monika! Toy breeds do bite more than larger breeds and pibulls combined, they just don’t cause as much damage and therefore aren’t considered “dangerous”.
Blaming the entire breed is just like racism, it’s putting them all into a category and calling them bad seeds. Ignorance is such a nasty disease. I feel sorry for people who think so narrow mindedly but really, these people are a danger to me and my dog so I can’t really just pity them and move on, they must either be educated (not likely) or at least unable to ban these breeds – it should be unconstitutional to ban them really.
Ashley, to second April’s response, Vancouver has not had BSL since 2005. Some of the surrounding areas in the lower mainland do have BSL (Richmond, West Van, I think Burnaby)…hooray though, Delta just removed their pitbull ban!!
And Ontario is not a muzzle bylaw, it’s an outright ban. If you brought your pitt there, they could legally seize and destroy it. Pretty disgusting. One of my dogs is an Ontario refugee and he couldn’t be sweeter. Bullies in Need is an awesome rescue group that works in Ontario to save illegal pitbulls, I highly recommend you check them out (and support them!) http://www.bulliesinneed.ca/
But the real point of this comment is to say thanks for posting this great story! I’ve lived in Vancouver for the past 5 years and have two pitbulls. Love this city! We get the occasional stupid comment, but for the most part have not met that much ignorance and many a’child have given my guys some pets without their parents getting hysterical.
And the weather here is about the same as in Portland – very mild winters! In case you’re really interested in moving
Thanks for the response Ashley! We always need updated info. I loved Vancouver! We are still traveling full time and will be Rochester NY next week (for 3 weeks). We wanted to go to Toronto, just to see it, but it’s a little far. Just as well because we can’t take our dog Chena and She’s so old now, she probably doesn’t care to see it anyway.
Thanks for the link to the site! Great Find! I put a link on the sidebar so people can find it or donate. I’m so happy there are organizations like that.
I have a 2 year old bluenose pit bull named Money, we just moved over to Vancouver from Vancouver Island. Some people are worried when they see her because she is a pit bull but what they don’t know is that she is a registered pet therapy dog over on the island. She goes to retirement homes and hospitals to visit people and makes there day little bit better. She loves to play with other dogs, chasing them and wrestling all in good fun. She misses her friends on the island and seems like people over here aren’t as sociable with there dogs. I am hoping to find a dog park area where she can find new friends to play with. If anybody knows of a place, please share.
I am shocked at ‘Keith’s’ reply. That is disgusting. I live in Vancouver and breedism is not a common problem. All dogs are beautiful and have needs. If those needs are not met by the losers like ‘Keith’ then the mental state is all screwed up. I am absolutely shocked at that response and I hope he is not from here. Glad your stay was nice. We love pitbulls in Vancouver!
Alfred, try Bridgeman Park on the North Shore. People come from all over the Lower Mainland to walk there! It’s an awesome place to take them out for a romp!