MONTREAL—The Quebec government plans to ban pit bulls in the province, against the recommendations of its own experts and the anger of animal activists.

Public Safety Minister Martin Coiteux announced the government’s intention after tabling legislation Thursday to better control dogs in the province, particularly dangerous canines that have bit or attacked other people or animals or those that have been deemed to be “potentially dangerous” based on their actions or by reputation.

He said that the number and severity of the attacks involving pit bulls, as well as an incident last summer in which a woman, Christiane Vadnais, was killed by such a dog, convinced him of the need to take the disputed step.

“In case there were still doubts about it, now there are none,” he told reporters in Quebec City.

“People have fears about pit bulls, and with good reason.”

The official order to enact the ban will come once the bill is passed into law, likely in the coming months.

The move comes after a working group formed by the government last summer expressly recommended that the province not follow the direction taken by Ontario in 2005.

Banning a pit bull, or any dog based on its breed, is inherently difficult, the group’s report concluded.

“Breed is a bad indicator of an animal’s aggressiveness because there is a great difference in the behaviour of animals of one breed that have been cross-bred with another given breed,” the report said.

It also cited studies that showed that pit bulls were on average more likely to attack other animals but less likely to attack other people. In Quebec, there have been six deaths caused by dog attacks in the last 30 years: one involving a pit bull, three involving huskies and two attributed to malamutes.

The report said that banning any particular breed of dog was an “emotional” response but was counter to the majority of animal experts consulted, would be difficult to enforce, might likely provoke a legal challenge and could simply result in irresponsible dog owners gravitating to another breed of animal.

The working group sought the experience of officials in Ontario more than a decade after its pit-bull ban came into effect, but were told that it was difficult to evaluate the impact of the ban because there was no mandatory reporting or tracking of dog-bite cases in the province.

The Quebec working group was also told that one of the “big challenges” of the Ontario law was determining a dog’s particular breed.

A pit-bull ban that came into force last year in the city of Montreal prompted a court challenge by the SPCA, the organization’s denunciation and its refusal to offer animal services for dogs under a series of contracts across the city.

In a statement, the Canadian campaign manager for Humane Society International the “senseless and archaic legislation” goes against the findings of researchers and experts.

“The proposed law will do nothing to increase public safety and will divert public funding that could have been applied to proven solutions that would effectively reduce dog bites and attacks,” said Ewa Demianowicz.

The proposed Quebec law will set up a mandatory dog-bite registry in the province and gives municipalities the power to declare a dog “potentially dangerous” and a risk to public safety based on the expert opinion of a veterinarian, or if that animal is involved in a biting incident.

Among the class of “potentially dangerous” dogs are those who make the list because of their reputation as strong or aggressive animals trained to protect, guard or attack. They include Rottweilers, American Staffordshire terriers and Staffordshire bull terriers, or any animal that is a result of cross-breeding with these types of animals.

Local authorities must order a dog owner to euthanize any animal that attacks, causing serious injuries or death. They are also free to implement stronger rules in their own jurisdiction, so long as the minimal provincial standards are met.

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“It’s not only a question of feeling safe. It’s a question of being safe and we think that those measures will ensure that throughout the territory of Quebec people will be safer and feel safer,” Coiteux said.

“I understand that some groups will oppose particular measures we have proposed in this legislation, but I think that overall there is a broad consensus to go with legislation like this.”

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