Nelson Sergerie, LJI Journalist
GASPÉ: — The Town of Gaspé wants to euthanize a dog that has been declared dangerous, which would be a first in the Gaspé Peninsula.
The town is basing its decision on a measure in the Regulation to implement the Act to promote the protection of persons by establishing a framework concerning dogs.
The Quebec government delegated responsibility for dangerous animals to municipalities following various tragic incidents involving dogs in the province through a law passed on June 13, 2018, which came into effect on March 3, 2020.
A notice of intent was filed at the September 2 council meeting. “We have a potentially dangerous dog here, which has been declared very dangerous by a veterinarian. This is a dog that has killed another animal. Everything has been proven and admitted by its owner. We must begin the process of determining what to do with the dog. What was discussed with the council is that since we are dealing with a dog that has been declared very dangerous by a veterinarian, we must issue a notice of intent,” explains the Mayor of Gaspé Daniel Côté, who remains very cautious in the face of a legal and possibly judicial process.
The town became involved following an incident that occurred on July 17, when the “dangerous” dog, a Labrador mix, fatally injured a small dog.
“There are steps to follow. It can take several weeks or even months. We are fortunate to have a veterinarian in Gaspé who can analyze the dog’s dangerousness and behaviour. In this case, it went fairly quickly,” notes the mayor. The owner of the animal has five days to respond to the notice of intent filed by the council.
“All costs and preliminary analyses up to euthanasia, which is the ultimate solution in this case, are the responsibility of the owner,” says the elected official.
The mayor points out that, according to the Civil Code, the owner is responsible for the care, control, supervision, and health of the animal. “We must remember this because I feel that this notion of individual responsibility is forgotten in our society,” says Mr. Côté.
The council was scheduled to revisit the issue on September 15.
The SHQ will have to pay
A 1974 agreement is coming back to haunt the Société d’habitation du Québec (SHQ), which will have to pay 100% of the renovation costs for certain low-rent housing units in Cap-des-Rosiers.
The mayor of Gaspé suggests that this may be related to the construction of these housing units following the mass expropriation of residents when Forillon Park was created.
“A series of low-income housing units were built around the Forillon peninsula. Perhaps it was in connection with this that the SHQ, to make up for the expropriations, assumed 100% of the relocation costs. Perhaps that is the situation. We brought up this agreement and the SHQ agreed to pay 100% of the renovation costs,” says the mayor.
The work is estimated at $8.2 million. If the municipal administration had not brought up this agreement, the town would have had to pay its 10% share, or $820,000.
“We obviously searched for any kind of agreement that could exempt us from the 10% bill. But everything that was in the agreement, we got,” notes the mayor.
There are other low-income housing renovations that need to be done, and the town will pay its 10% share. This is particularly the case for the renovation project on Rue des Grandvillais, a $1.6 million project for which the town will have to pay approximately $100,000.