B.C. judge urged to spare animal's life amid debate over dog whisperer's technique
CBC
A Victoria woman fighting to save the life of her friend's dog urged a provincial court judge Tuesday to look past a contentious debate over methods of dog training to focus instead on questions of public safety.
As she launched into her defence of a condemned canine named Bronx, Lisa Warden told Judge Adrian Brooks he really only has one thing to decide — and it isn't the effectiveness of so-called dog-whispering.
"We have delved deeply into what kind of training methods are acceptable for person X or Y — that's not the issue here," Warden told the judge.
"The issue is: Is this dog going to pose an unacceptable risk to the public?"
Bronx's defenders began calling witnesses Tuesday after nearly two days of testimony from a Vancouver Island-based dog behaviourist hired by the City of Victoria to assess the Dogo Argentino Rottweiler cross.
Animal control officers declared Bronx a dangerous dog in August 2018 when he bit and killed a small poodle a fraction of his size.
After a series of warnings related to an order he be muzzled, Bronx was seized last March when he bit a man in the parking lot of the Mustard Seed Street Church and Food Bank, a haunt of the dog's former owner — Rick Bonora.