The mayor of Quebec City is promising to ban pit bulls in his city by the end of the year.

Regis Labeaume made the statement Thursday.

"We made the decision yesterday at the Executive Committee meeting. It's very simple. We decided that there will be no pit bulls within Quebec City as of Jan. 1, 2017," said Labeaume.

He said that first and foremost, he was thinking of children and families and their sense of security.

"In the next six months owners of pit bulls will have to resolve their situation, and that means getting rid of their pit bulls," said Labeaume.

The move comes as Premier Philippe Couillard reiterated that the safety of the population must always come before the rights of dog owners.

In Montreal on Thursday Couillard said Quebec is "seriously" looking at following Ontario's lead in banning pit bulls in order to reduce the number of maimings and deaths caused by dogs.

"We're looking at what they did and probably we'll go in the same direction," said Couillard.

A task force may come up with regulations in the weeks to come, and legislation is expected to be tabled in the fall, in order that all dangerous dogs will be stopped.

"Ok we've dealt with this species, what about the other species that you know, three months later could also be aggressive. Let's have a comprehensive approach and be thoughtful of how we put this forward," said Couillard.

Last week a Montreal woman was killed when a pit bull escaped its yard and attacked her on her property.