Where is Diva now? This is the official version from Berger Blanc of the Diva saga; how it all started and how it ended.

After speaking with Catherine Leclerc at the Berger Blanc, it would appear that Diva who in fact was named Chanelle was reported lost on the 7th of January by a lady who had lost a female brindle Pit bull with a scar on her side.

According to Ms. Leclerc a discussion ensued with an out of town dog catcher who had placed a trap to “rescue” this stray dog, to which Berger Blanc told this dog catcher to remove her cage as they would set one up since it was their contract, their job, their deal and in the end their dog if not claimed. After all it is a territorial issue. The dog catcher claimed she had a “foster home” who could take this dog in, Berger Blanc told the dog catcher to have her “foster home” contact Berger Blanc.

The dog catcher eventually told Berger Blanc that the dog was going to be surrendered to what Berger Blanc described as a sort of “commune” that helps find them homes. Their view on this was why should they release the dog since they had no plans on euthanizing her. A business is a business Berger Blanc says to themselves, why should the dog catcher make the buck. The fact that she fed the dog and spent hours trying to catch her does not make her the dogs guardian.

When the dog arrived at Berger Blanc, they unsuccessfully tried to reach the owner. Before the 5th day the owner contacted Berger Blanc and according to them it was a beautiful reunion between the lady and her dog. As far as they are concerned this case is over and one of their happy endings.

Diva was picked up as a stray by the Berger Blanc on the 17th of January 2012. On the 16th Berger Blanc was notified that she was running around in the Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district of Montreal. A group of amateurs and professional dog catchers spent the week prior trying to catch her, but to no avail. The next day Berger Blanc captures her, what led to her capture is currently unknown but Berger Blanc did what others failed to do in a day.

Since Diva was running around the Port of Montreal, we feared what the Montreal Police would do, that motivated a team of amateurs and professional to catch her. This summer the SPVM shot down a stray Pitbull with 12 bullets, so the race to find Diva was fueled.

When the word got out that Diva was at the Berger Blanc, the good Samaritan that had been trying to catch her the week prior had offered to take her out on the 5th day. That is if she hadn’t been claimed by her owners, the good Samaritans wanted her to be put up for adoption with a rescue that had room. The Berger Blanc had agreed, but that never happened.

Diva ‘disappeared’ from the Berger Blanc’s website, while the Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve Mayor Réal Ménard was notified before she was caught by Berger Blanc, the City of Montreal Richard Deschamps, his attaché M. Purcell and Director Sylvie Aubin were also notified when she was caught and they all ignored the problem at hand.

This isn’t the first time a dog disappears from the Berger Blanc. Back in the early 2000’s Public Security of the City of Cote-Saint-Luc had found a stray, they logged the tag number, called the owner, got an answering machine. They left a message with the owner that Public Security had found their dog and sent him to the Berger Blanc, that they had 3 days to go pick him up.

Public Security made a log of the drop-off, the owner was at the Berger Blanc within the hour and his dog had disappeared. Of course the City’s administration once faced with a legal challenge from it’s citizens decided to cancel the Berger Blanc contract on the spot. The Berger Blanc failed to protect the Public’s property, owned by the City while it’s a stray, the City had a legal duty to protect it’s citizens pets while in their legal custody.

So keep your eyes open for Diva, we don’t think she will be euthanized versus leaving the Berger Blanc from the back door.

Update: 14 hours after the Berger Blanc had updated their website to remove Diva’s listing, 7 hours after this article was published the Berger Blanc website was updated once again to list Diva as reuinted. No news from the Berger Blanc or the good Samaritans.

Update: Berger Blanc was willing to talk, read all about it here.