Mountain View County council has approved a number of changes to the Dog Control Bylaw.
During the regularly scheduled council meeting on Oct. 8, councillors approved the addition of a definition for off leash dog park.
“Off leash dog park means a fully fenced and gated open space, designed specifically for owners to allow their dogs off leash in accordance with applicable permits and regulations for the specific site,” the amendment reads.
The new definition comes after council approved a new direct control district for an off leash dog park under an amendment to the Land Use Bylaw on Sept. 10.
A proposal has come before council for the creation of an off leash dog park on the western boundary of the Town of Olds in Mountain View County.
An application for a development permit for the proposed park has not yet come before council.
As well as including a new definition of off leash park in the Dog Control Bylaw, county council also added the following wording to the control of dogs section in the bylaw: “Dogs shall be permitted to run off leash in a designated off leash park. This exception does not apply to vicious or restricted dogs.”
The bylaw defines a restricted dog as “any dog, whatever its age, of the following breeds or kinds: American Staffordshire terrier, American pit bull terrier, Staffordshire bull terrier or any dog of mixed breeding which can be identified through its physical characteristics as a dog partially of the above-mentioned breeds or kinds by a veterinarian licenced to practice in Alberta.”
It defines a vicious dog as one that, in part, “shows a propensity, disposition or potential to attack or injure other animals or humans.”
