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Montreal is banning the acquisition of pit bull-type dogs, but will allow current owners to keep their animals under strict new rules that include a short leash for the pets and criminal background checks for their masters.

By the end of 2019, all dogs in the city will have to have a microchip embedded and be sterilized.

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The changes to the city’s animal control bylaws, announced Wednesday, come in the wake of the fatal dog attack in June on 55-year-old Christiane Vadnais in Pointe-aux-Trembles. The new regulations are designed to ensure the safety of the general public while still respecting the rights of dogs and owners “who behave well,” Mayor Denis Coderre said.

“In the Charter of Rights and freedoms, safety is a right as well, so we are working to ensure the safety of our populace,” he said.

Animal protection services warned the restrictions would be impossible to impose and do little to increase safety, while legal experts said banning ownership of a dog based on the owner’s criminal history was illegal.

“We have become so obsessed with safety — but only with those things that are fashionable — that we just give in to sudden attacks of panic,” said Montreal constitutional lawyer Julius Grey. “Nobody talks about prohibiting boxing, or peanuts, even though those cause far more injuries than pit bulls.”