Carrieann Parker loves her dog, Chico, and she's had him for nine happy years.
“I thought my dog was a mutt,” she says. “I got him as a mutt and the breed of dog I had didn't make much difference to me because he was good with my kids.”
After moving back to Canso, Parker discovered there's a dog bylaw in Guysborough County that bans so-called fierce and dangerous breeds.
The county did a DNA test on Chico and found him to be, primarily, an American Staffordshire terrier, or what is commonly referred to as a pit bull.
That’s one of Guysborough County’s banned breeds and Parker was told she had to find Chico a new home this week, or the county would take him away.
She decided instead to fight back.
“He's part of my family,” said Parker. “I've had him for nine years. I've had him as long as I've had my oldest son. My children will be lost without him.”
Parker’s neighbour, Alicia Rhynold, says the bylaw needs to be changed.
“This bylaw needs to be dealt with,” she said. “Or nobody else is going to move back to the community that has dogs that are banned.”
When the bylaw passed 23 years ago, Warden Vernon Pitts was on council and he supported it. Now he's having second thoughts.
“Since then, I've acquired a couple of little dogs and they've become part of my family,” Pitts said. “So, I’m more than willing to look at it again … and maybe we can change it.”
At a council meeting Wednesday afternoon, they voted Chico could stay with his family.
They also decided to have more discussion on the dog bylaw issue later this month.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Dan MacIntosh.
