A dog fatally mauled a Canadian woman 3 months ago. Now, Montreal has banned pit bulls

In June, a Quebec man named Farid Benzenati arrived at his house in Montreal’s east end to see a dog outside, wrestling with a large object. The dog was new to the Pointe-Aux-Trembles neighborhood, and Benzenati at first dismissed the tussle in the neighbor’s backyard as playful. But then he saw human hair. Police found Benzenati’s neighbor, 55-year-old Christiane Vadnais, mauled to death. Responders pronounced Vadnais dead at the scene. Officers shot and killed the animal, which they described as a pit bull. Since 2005, the nearby province of Ontario had banned pit bulls, and Quebec was also considering similar legislation. At the time of Vadnais’s death, the city of Montreal had also been mulling possible restrictions on “dangerous dogs,” though it was unclear which breeds would be affected. The tragedy spurred the city to action. On Tuesday, the city council voted 37 to 23 in support of a bylaw put forth by the Montreal mayor’s office. It will be illegal for anyone to adopt or otherwise acquire a new pit bull in the city. If the pit bulls are not grandfathered in, they face euthanasia.