In just over three months the SPCA will no longer provide services for dogs in nine Montreal boroughs.

The SPCA said it is withdrawing services to show its opposition to the animal control bylaw that outlaws pit bull-type dogs in the city of Montreal.

That means as of March 31, 2017, the SPCA will not accept abandoned dogs from nine boroughs.

The agency will, however, continue to deal with cats, wildlife, and exotic animals across the city.

Anita Kapuscinska said this is because the SPCA opposes breed-specific legislation and does not believe that any breed of dog is dangerous.

"This essentially means that we will not be able to provide the pound-type services. so animals coming in as strays, dogs being seized by the police simply based on their looks. Essentially if we were to continue as is, we at the Montreal SPCA would be forced to euthanize dogs that are healthy and are definitely not a threat to society and this is not something we are okay with," said Kapuscinska.

The animal group will continue to accept animals from other municipalities.

"We will still have our inspection department working on abuse and neglect cases, we will still have dogs coming in from other municipalities," said Kapuscinska.

The SPCA is challenging the animal control bylaw in court, and while it is being challenged the City of Montreal has agreed that pit bull-type dogs will not be euthanized.

Because of that, the city of Montreal feels the SPCA's move is unjustified and issued a statement saying so.

The city said it will work with boroughs to find an alternative to the SPCA's pound.

The animal control bylaw bans new pit bulls from living in Montreal, but allows all existing animals to remain as long as they are registered.

When the bylaw came into effect only 20 percent of dogs in Montreal were registered.

The SPCA accepts about 2,000 dogs each year, and about 6,000 cats.

For several months adoption agencies across Canada have been taking pit bulls from the SPCA in Montreal and bringing them out of the province.

The affected boroughs are:

Ahuntsic-Cartierville

Anjou

Cote des Neiges-Notre Dame de Grace

Lachine

Montreal North

Plateau-Mont Royal

Rosemont-La Petite Patrie

Southwest

Verdun

Because the contract with the borough of St. Laurent is different, the SPCA will continue to offer dog services in that borough.

Opposition councillor Sterling Downey is not surprised that the animal agency is doing exactly what it promised to do.

"This is a consequence of the improvised and arbitrary acts of Mayor Denis Coderre," said Downey.

"Animal owners are going to be faced with a huge problem if their animals are seized or abandoned. We don't know where they're going to end up."

He is, once again, calling on the city of Montreal to revise the bylaw.

Montreal is building its own city-controlled animal shelter which is scheduled to open in 2018.