After nearly eight months apart, a Varney family and its two dogs that were held by animal control in West Grey and later shipped out of province have been reunited.
Deanna Wheeler, 58, drove with her 15-year-old grandson Breydan to Quebec last week to pick up the family’s American Bullies Nove and Dexter. The two pups had been living in an animal foster care home near Gatineau since June after Wheeler agreed to move them out of Ontario earlier this year amid a breed dispute with the Municipality of West Grey.
Wheeler, who lives with her three grandchildren Breydan, Angelica and Ciara, says it’s a big relief to finally have the dogs home.
“It was a pretty emotional ride home,” Wheeler says. “The dogs were all over Breydan in the back seat of the vehicle all the way home. And when we got home they followed him everywhere. As soon as he left for school, they went to his bedroom and have been laying on his bed.”
The dogs were first separated from Wheeler and her grandchildren in March after they escaped the family’s yard and were brought by a passerby to a veterinarian clinic in Durham. Nove and Dexter ended up being held there for months because the municipality’s animal control officer claimed they were pit bulls — a banned breed in Ontario under the Dog Owners’ Liability Act — and refused to release them.
Nove and Dexter continued to be held by West Grey’s animal control officer even after Wheeler provided American Bully Kennel Club registration, proof of pedigree, microchip information and a genetic breed test to confirm the fact the dogs are 100 per cent pure American Bully.
Eventually, Wheeler agreed to a “soft surrender” of her dogs and arranged to have them shipped to Quebec as she pursued legal action against the municipality to gain custody back.
The province’s Dog Owners’ Liability Act says a pit bull includes any dog “that has an appearance and physical characteristics that are substantially similar” to pit bull terriers, Staffordshire bull terriers, American Staffordshire terriers or American pit bull terriers, which is the aspect of the legislation Nove and Dexter were apparently being held under.
“They wouldn’t accept their pedigrees. They wouldn’t even accept their DNA when it came back 100 per cent American Bully,” Wheeler recalls. “They were judge and jury. I didn’t have a chance. It wouldn’t have mattered how many pieces of evidence I’d give them, they would not have accepted any of it.”
Everything changed for Wheeler and her grandchildren last week after the province made a regulatory change that would allow their beloved dogs to return home.
The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs made an amendment on Nov. 1 to Regulation 23 under the Animals for Research Act, changing the rules governing the impoundment of animals including those held under the Dog Owners’ Liability Act.
Jack Sullivan, Issues Manager & Press Secretary for Minister of Agriculture, Food & Rural Affairs Lisa Thompson, says the amendment would permit the return of an animal that is impounded and is currently unable to be returned to its owner solely because of its alleged breed, while the formal breed determination is being conducted.
“Ontarians expect the rules that protect people and animals to be rooted in evidence,” Sullivan says in an email. “By making this change now, our government is returning impounded pets, that have not caused harm, to their owners under certain terms and conditions.”
While her dogs are now back home, Wheeler is still involved in a legal battle with the Municipality of West Grey. The 58-year-old grandmother filed a $35,000 claim on Sept. 17 that included the return of her two dogs and her legal counsel says the defence from West Grey was received in October.
Carrie Bertrand, Wheeler’s legal representative, says although the dogs have now been returned the claim against the municipality will continue. Wheeler is seeking more than $4,600 directly related to boarding costs she was billed for the time her dogs were held by the municipality’s animal control officer at the Durham veterinarian clinic from March 15 until mid-June. Her claim also includes $30,000 in general damages for pain and suffering, emotional trauma and severe distress.
West Grey Chief Administrative Officer Laura Johnston declined a request for comment about the ongoing litigation involving the municipality.
Bertrand says her client’s position is the municipality failed to adhere to the Animals for Research Act and Dogs Owners’ Liability Act, pointing to a section in the latter legislation which states: “In determining whether a dog is a pit bull within the meaning of this Act, a court may have regard to the breed standards established for Staffordshire Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers or American Pit Bull Terriers by the Canadian Kennel Club, the United Kennel Club, the American Kennel Club or the American Dog Breeders Association.”
She says Wheeler’s dogs are registered American Bullies with the United Kennel Club and her previous counsel proffered a “voluminous amount of evidence” to the municipality confirming this.
“The municipality did not provide any qualified opinions from their own veterinarians which would have challenged the qualified opinions provided to them,” Bertrand says in an email. “Their decision to insist on sending the dogs away to another province seemed to rest on the current animal control officer who is not qualified to challenge these professional opinions.”
A settlement conference between the two parties is upcoming, but the date has yet to be confirmed by the court.
In the meantime, Wheeler is happy to have the dogs around the house again and says it feels like a part of the family that had been taken away has returned.
During the time Nove and Dexter were staying in dog foster care in Quebec, Wheeler and her grandchildren maintained their connection with regular Facetime calls through the help of a friend who would attend and set up the digital engagements. She says the foster home took great care of both dogs.
“They haven’t lost any weight and they look happy as ever,” Wheeler says. “I think it’s going to take a couple of days to set in. Is it a dream or is it real? They are here though. So it’s not a dream, but it’s just the feeling.”
