OLDS - Council is moving forward with changes that put more teeth into a bylaw regulating dogs in the community, especially those considered vicious.
Proposed amendments to the Community Standards Bylaw include new dog-related offences, definitions, categories of injury caused by a dog, and a reduction in number of dogs allowed per dwelling.
The amended bylaw was given first reading last week and is expected to come back to council for consideration of second of three readings sometime in January.
“The town had identified a number of gaps in the enforcement piece. We talked with legal and they agreed there were some things we needed to tighten up. And the residents in town also saw there were some pieces they’d like to see tightened up,” said Doug Wagstaff, the town’s chief operating officer.
Under the proposed bylaw amendments, the maximum number of dogs allowed per dwelling would be three -- a reduction from the current allowable maximum of six.
New offences are also proposed including if a dog enters into or on to the immediate area of a green space, playground, sports field, cemetery, swimming area, splash park pad, recreational facility, or any other area where a dog is prohibited by posted town signs or prohibited as directed by a peace officer.
“So that provides the peace officer now an opportunity to ensure that if there’s signage, if there’s incidents emerging that they see are unsafe or threatening that they can address those within the new bylaw,” said Wagstaff.
Dog owners who fail to provide documentation, such as veterinary records, when requested by a peace officer would also be guilty of an offence under the new bylaw.
If a dog, or a vicious dog, bites or causes injury to a person, it is proposed that there be two separate classifications of injury – minor and severe, with penalties escalating for the severe category.
And under the proposed bylaw, a dog would only have to exhibit threatening behaviour in order for an owner to be charged as opposed to the current charge of a dog chasing or threatening a person.
Failure to follow regulations for a locked pen or structure is also a new proposed offence, netting owners a $500 fine.
Wagstaff said the proposed changes – including the number of dogs allowed per dwelling -- are a result of community input through a survey conducted in November along with staff research and legal advice.
“Overwhelmingly, the community feedback was three or less. I would have to look at the exact numbers but roughly three-quarters of the respondents came back saying that they wanted three or less dogs,” he said.
As of November 2019, Wagstaff said there were no dog owners who had four or five dogs that were registered.
There have only been three such instances in the five-year time frame staff researched, he added.
