I am against abuse of animals, but it is important that laws are written so as to address the real issues without being over-broad. The Legislative Assembly generally writes laws that are imprecise and/or over-broad, as would be the case if a law were passed that included the language in the final sentence of the article above. Anyone who has ever trained a dog knows that “assault” (contact without consent or the threat thereof) with or without a rolled-up newspaper is standard practice and is not abusive.

The law that was recently proposed was a good idea, except that it created the need for a new bureaucracy and was vague as to what constituted a dangerous dog. Clearly, we need laws to protect animals and people. It would be great if there were someone here who knew how to write good law (or even to copy the language of laws that function well in other countries).;