A A

Mason Landry and his new pro bono lawyer are prepared to pull out all the stops to fight a Clark's Harbour bylaw banning his pit bull-like pet and therapy dog.

It appears that the mayor of Clark's Harbour is prepared to do the same in order to banish Gizmo from the town.

“We will pursue this,” said Mayor Leigh Stoddart on Thursday. “We will go to court if need be and we’ll let the courts decide if we’re right or if we’re wrong.”

Landry’s lawyer Regan Murphy is willing to go that far, if need be.

“I’m a dog owner myself and I had no problem jumping at the opportunity to help Mr. Landry out, especially after looking at the bylaw that’s clearly flawed and obviously the point of the bylaw is discriminatory by nature.”

Landry, who’s been diagnosed with anxiety and depression, considers Gizmo like family. It’s been that way since he picked the pooch up at the SPCA seven months ago. Since then, Gizmo has gone through therapy dog training and is registered with the Canadian branch of the Assistance Dogs of America.

Landry said he wasn’t aware of the bylaw.

“(Gizmo’s) not just my dog, he’s my family member. He’s my caregiver. I don’t want to lose him. It would be crushing if I did.” - Mason Landry

But the town isn’t about to compromise on its dog control bylaw. Landry has until Monday to pay a $100 fine for violating it. Failing that he faces a $250 fine or a 21-day jail sentence.

“The bylaw isn’t right,” said Landry. “(Gizmo’s) not just my dog, he’s my family member. He’s my caregiver. I don’t want to lose him. It would be crushing if I did.”

Gizmo is a mixed breed dog, and his owner's lawyer says ordering a DNA test to determine whether he's really part pitbull isn't just overreach, it's a flawed idea.

His lawyer says he has serious issues with the piece of municipal legislation deeming pit bull breeds as “fierce and dangerous” along with “pit bull terrier, American pit bull terrier, Staffordshire bull terrier, American Staffordshire terrier, rottweiler “or any dog of mixed breed which includes any of the aforementioned breeds.” For starters, Murphy says the bylaw ought to contain an exception for therapy dogs. Then, there’s the difficulty of determining the dog’s breed based “on appearance” as stated in the bylaw.

“You can’t just determine a dog’s breed based on a hunch,” said the lawyer.

The town has instructed Landry to get a DNA test on the dog to prove whether he’s part or full pit bull. But Murphy argues that not only does the bylaw not authorize the town to make such a request and no veterinarian offers such a service in the province, but the results wouldn’t necessarily prove anything.

“How do you measure the accuracy of those tests?

“There are issues with dogs and there’s no doubt that there should be remedies to that. In this case simply just naming a couple breeds and doing a blanket ban and no option to figure out any other way is not the solution in my opinion.”

But Mayor Stoddart is standing his ground, and skeptical whether indeed Gizmo is a legitimate therapy dog.

“I think most reasonable people would conclude that a pit bull isn’t a therapy dog,” said Stoddart.

“We want the dog removed from the town limits because it’s contrary to our bylaw. We’re holding up what we already have. We’ve had the bylaw in place since 2011. Most people know you’re not supposed to have certain breeds of dogs in town. So we’re just reinforcing that.”

Stoddart said the town’s never had to enforce the bylaw until now. He said he’s not about to make an exception.

“If we don’t pursue this one, what’s going to stop others from bringing in pit bulls and dogs that are banned?

“This is a law that has been researched, not by myself but other jurisdictions. There are certain dogs that have a propensity to attack, hold on and inflict serious injury. We decided to be proactive and do our best to prevent this from happening in our community."

RELATED: