City to remind pet owners on bylaw requirements after issues raised at Council Session

Councillor Cunningham had some
advice for the City on how to address
the issue of dogs in the community on Monday

Monday's council session went to the dogs (and cats for that matter) for a few moments, as a resident took advantage of the Committee of the Whole Public Comment Period to raises some concerns about dangerous dogs, particularly pit bulls in the community.

In the Public Comment period, a review of some close calls suffered by the resident over the last few weeks was outlined, with a request that Council perhaps seek to provide for more awareness and enforcement of bylaw requirements when it comes to dog owners in the city.

Councillor Cunningham would pick up on that theme later on in the evening as part of the Council Members' report portion of the evening. He suggested that the city's information department more prominently highlight the current bylaws when it comes to pets on the city's website.

Adding that perhaps the City should consider advertising in the local paper to better instruct city residents as to their responsibilities as dog owners.

Mr. Cunningham also reminded Council members that he had previously outlined the need for a second bylaw officer for the city, noting that he doesn't believe that one person can enforce all of the city's regulations.

Councillor Kinney also weighed in on the topic, noting that the same should be considered for cat owners, calling the cat problems in the city larger even than those of the canine community.

Some background on the City Bylaws related to Pet ownership can be found below:

Pet Licence information
Dog Control Bylaw 2008

You can review the discussion from the City's Video archive, the first instalment of the Dog and Cat debates comes in the first few minutes of the night's session, while the Council discussion takes place at the 38 minute point.



For more items related to Monday's City Council session see our Council Timeline feature.

Further background on City Council discussions can be found on our Council Archive page.