Bad dogs, Bad dogs, whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do when they come for you!

Muzzles, fences and chains, all could be the secret to good neighbourliness, better still just moving out seems to be just fine as well.

A Fourth Avenue West neighbourhood is about to be rid of a major annoyance, but it would appear that somewhere else in Podunk trouble is about to arrive.

Wednesday's Daily News featured a story on a neighbourhood group that had become fed up with a neighbours pit bulls, two dogs that apparently were leaving the 4th West area in a fair amount of terror.

A public protest took place outside of the dog owners house, complete with signs, angry words and concerns for neighbourhood safety.

The protest took place after local residents had grown weary of inaction by the city and RCMP over their complaints about the dogs and their owner, their concerns have led to questions about the city's dangerous dog policies and whether enforcement issues need to be looked at with situations such as the one that became quite public on Wednesday.

For the Fourth Avenue West residents the days of fear are about to end, the owner of the two pit bulls, who currently has them boarding at the SPCA says that he's about to move to a new house, which will no doubt be greeted with relief by the folks of Fourth Avenue.

But somewhere else in the city, neighbours are keeping an eye on the street, wondering if that rental home, or just off the market residence is about to change their day to day routines forever.

Neighbours protest over alleged dangerous pitbulls
The Daily News
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Page one

After trying to get help from both the RCMP and the city of Prince Rupert, residents of Fourth Avenue West decided to take matters into their own hands Monday night, and organized a protest about alleged dangerous dogs in their neighbourhood.

The Fourth Avenue West residents claim that a resident on their street is harbouring vicious pitbulls and many neighbours say they feel threatened and scared.

"We've been living in fear for a long time," said Dave Fisher, one of the residents who organized the protest.

"This has been going on for a while.

"As neighbours and people who live in Rupert, we want our neighbourhood cleaned up. We want a bylaw that will stop this sort of action."

The residents gathered for 30 minutes with signs announcing their concerns. During the relatively peaceful protest, the resident in question arrived at the home in a taxi-cab, and addressed the crowd.

"I have rights as a resident of Prince Rupert," he said. "And there are dogs off the leash here up and down this street.

"I apologize for the dogs getting out when they did ... they ran out when I was bringing in the groceries."

That alleged incident is what inspired the protest.

The two pitbulls got out of the house, and allegedly rushed Fisher's residence, apparently trying to get their jaws on his dog. A makeshift fence boarding his patio kept the pitbulls at bay, said Fisher.

But the protesters were not satisfied with the resident's apology.

"That's not good enough," said one woman. "We don't want you here.
"We don't want drug dealers or vicious dogs here."

Tempers flared at this moment, as the resident once again reiterated that he has rights.
He did add, however, that the two pitbulls in question were being housed at the local SPCA until he finds a new place to live.

"They'll be at the SPCA until I move at the end of the month."

But that answer wasn't good enough for the protesters either.

"They haven't been surrendered?" asked one protester. "Then that's not good enough. They need to be put down."

The owner of the alleged dangerous dogs departed the scene in a taxi, leaving the protesters to fume that too little was being done and moving to a new address would not solve the problem, but only move it to a different part of the city.

"A first responder coming in to any situation such as this with dogs that are dangerous dogs, as these are, would find themselves in a great deal of trouble, because these dogs will attack," said Fisher. "They're silent killers. What we are trying to do is not only clean up our neighbourhood, but look out for the welfare of Prince Rupert. So it's not just a neighbourhood problem on Fourth Avenue, but it's a problem going throughout Prince Rupert. We're tired of being hostages in our own neighbourhood."

The residents have tried to get the city to change its bylaw regarding dangerous animals, and have also attempted to get the RCMP involved, but to date, nothing has been done.

Another resident who recently moved to the area said he has been able to watch what goes on at the residence in question, and said it's only a matter of time before the pitbulls harm someone.

"The kids never play on this part of the street anymore," he said, asking to remain unnamed.

"You can't actually have a beer or anything in your backyard, without the dogs attacking."

Fisher described the fence that keeps the pitbulls at bay as "not good enough," and said he has had to make alterations to the fence to ensure the pitbulls don't break through.

"When we're in our backyard, we're looking over our shoulder every day," he said. "These dogs have actually ripped a hole in my commercial chain-link fence, and they've gotten out a number of times."

"When they've gotten out, they've also attacked a number of people. They have not bitten anybody yet, but that will happen.