A Windsor, Ont., woman has established an underground railroad for smuggling pit bulls out of the city that banned the dogs, the Globe and Mail said Thursday.

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Tammy Williams, 34, said she has rescued 40 pit bulls, many of them puppies, from almost certain death at the Windsor-Essex Humane Society since Windsor banned the breed Oct. 1.

She said her network consists mainly of middle class families and young professionals who are committed to saving the maligned breed. They typically take care of the dogs for a few days while Williams and friend Natalie Kemeny, with whom she co-founded the group Advocates for the Underdog, assess the suitability of families interested in adopting.

Since the ban took effect, the city's humane society has euthanized about 50 pit bulls.

Williams said she has recently begun establishing contacts in other provinces and has fielded adoption offers from people in Nova Scotia and Quebec. She said she is also considering looking to the United States for potential owners.