Pit bull rescued twice in a week

For the second time in a week, Dano is resting at the Saint John Animal Rescue League after being rescued.

Dano was first rescued from the Toronto Humane Society where the light-brown dog was to be euthanized, as the breed is banned in Ontario.

That's when Jennifer Wood drove to Toronto and brought him back to the Saint John Animal Rescue League.

"They're innocent dogs. Obviously he's sweet, good-natured," Wood said.

"They deserve a chance."

Dano was getting acclimatized to his new surroundings last Sunday when two women walked into the shelter, specifically looking for a pit bull. They asked to take Dano for a walk in the parking lot, but they never returned.

Janet Foster, the executive director of the shelter, said the shelter's staff were briefly distracted when Dano disappeared. They immediately called Saint John police to report the pit bull stolen.

It didn't take long before someone called the shelter saying they knew exactly where Dano was staying. But the caller said they wanted cash before they would disclose Dano's whereabouts.

"When we said, 'Well we're a non-profit, we don't have a reward right now,' she wouldn't give us any information. She just wanted money to tell us where the dog was," Foster said.

That was the last the shelter heard about Dano's disappearance. At that point, the shelter staff were worried that whoever took Dano might turn him into a vicious guard dog.

But on Thursday night, Kim Daye, a Saint John animal control officer, spotted Dano, loose and walking near the shelter.

She said she thinks when his story hit the news, whoever stole him got nervous and set him loose.

Daye said she was just glad to find him safe.

"I was so excited. I could hardly sleep last night. I didn't want to leave him, I wanted to take him home," Daye said.

Breed banned

The Saint John Animal Rescue League is one of a number of Canadian animal shelters that are trying to save pit bulls from being euthanized in Ontario.

The Fredericton SPCA saved two Ontario pit bulls, Peyton and Rocky, in January.

The breed was banned in Ontario in 2005 after a number of attacks involving the dogs.

Ontario residents are allowed to keep pit bulls that they already had as pets but were forced to comply with a series of rules, such as they must keep the dogs muzzled in public.