For the first time since 1987, Edmonton’s dogs are being seen as equal in the eyes of the law.

Edmonton city council voted Wednesday to support a change to the city’s Animal Licensing and Control Bylaw that, prior to the change, singled out breeds considered pit bulls as particularly dangerous.

The old legislation included dogs with both Staffordshire Bull Terrier and American Staffordshire Terrier as their primary breed in the category of “restricted dog.” But after an extensive report done by the city administration, it was found that such breed-specific rules are not as effective as hoped.

Among the findings were public consultation numbers that showed more than 85% of Edmontonians identifying the cause of dog attacks as “improper training, poor supervision and irresponsible dog owners” and not the dog breeds.

Administration also looked to Calgary, where no breed-specific legislation exists, and Vancouver, where similar legislation was scrapped in 2005. Both cases showed no benefit for targeting one breed or another. Further, they estimated that less than half of the animals that would be considered restricted under the old rules were simply not registered because of the higher cost of licensing and insurance.

Shawna Randolph says scrapping the breed-specific parts of the law has been a long time coming.

“For the longest time we’ve felt that the bylaw in its previous state was discriminatory and we felt that it was doing more harm than good,” said Randolph, a spokeswoman for the Edmonton Humane Society.

The harm, she said, has been some formerly restricted dogs were unable to get the kind of exercise and sociability they need from places like off-leash parks because their owners were worried to leave the house with them. As a result, some of them would have an even harder time around other people and dogs whenever they did get the chance to be around them.

“We’re very happy that finally this has happened,” she said.

She said the new bylaw, that describes restricted dogs as those that have chased, attacked or bitten people in past or have a propensity toward chasing people or other animals, still puts the responsibility on dog owners to keep their pets in line.

david.lazzarino@sunmedia.ca