The City of Airdrie’s draft Animal Control Bylaw got a workout during three public feedback sessions held at pet stores in Airdrie, Jan. 29 to 31.
According to Team Lead, Corporate Communications Lynda Phelan between 100 and 120 people came out to the sessions which offered a chance for residents to ask members of Airdrie’s Municipal Enforcement department questions about the changes proposed in the new bylaw.
Peace Officer Brad Tomlinson said the new bylaw would give officers more tools for dealing with issues between pets, their owners and other residents.
“Our old bylaw was quite back-dated and very vague. There weren’t a lot of usable tools that applied to pet owners of today and our pathway systems,” Tomlinson said. “Obviously, we’ll still be using discretion but the biggest thing is to have the tools for the situations when we need them. A lot of changes have been made to dog ownership, proper care and control of an animal and ownership responsibilities.”
Municipal Enforcement has been working on revising and replacing the existing Dog Control Bylaw, originally approved in 1981, with an Animal Control Bylaw. The draft bylaw was presented as information to Airdrie City council at the Jan. 19 meeting, at which point staff were directed to go ahead with public feedback sessions.
Nicki Nordick, owner of Airdrie Puppy Pals, a business that offers pet sitting and dog walking services, said she attended the first of the feedback session on Jan. 29, and was able to speak with peace officers and other residents in attendance.
“The biggest things I got from (the session) is the bylaws, (which are) written like a legal document but all the bylaw officers kept saying ‘we use our discretion.’ Some people are concerned that if it’s written (this strictly), it’s going to be enforced as such,” Nordick said. “When I spoke to the City workers, they told me they are going to take all this feedback and they are going to make changes but it still needs to be a legal document that benefits both humans and dogs.”
Nordick said there are some parts of the proposed bylaw that concern her, including a section that would ban bike riding with your dog next to you on a leash.
“The biggest one for me is the biking (bylaw). Biking is such a great activity with hyper dogs,” she said. “Dogs that can’t go to the dog park because they have too much energy – they’re not necessarily aggressive but don’t do well in a dog park – that’s a really good outlet for them to get rid of some of that energy and reintegrating them to the dog park. If you remove that (as an option) you’re limiting their outlet.”
Another hot topic is the section of the draft bylaw that deals with vicious dogs, however, Tomlinson said this will aid him in doing his job.
“We’ve had a lot of very serious dog bite incidents and this is going to allow us to still have the side of the pet owner and they’re going to be able to voice their opinions the whole way through the process and still be able to have the dogs functioning on the pathways and in their yards,” he said. “It’s going to help us deal with these situations in the long term because they’re pretty tough.” Under the proposed bylaw, a dog can been labeled as vicious if it has “caused severe injury to a person, whether on public or private property or the dog has, while off its owner’s property, caused the death of an animal.” All decisions are made at a Provincial Court Justice.
If declared a vicious dog, it may be ordered destroyed by a Justice of the Court or the owner may be allowed to keep the animal but will have to follow a number of restrictions, including keeping the dog muzzled when out in public and in a secure locked enclosure if allowed outside at the owner’s property.
The word that came up a lot at the sessions, according to Nordick, was “discretion.”
“I’m hoping they use their discretion,” she said. “My impression isn’t that they are trying to stop everything but that they’re just trying to update our bylaws from 1981. I legitimately feel like they want to come up with a middle ground between dog owners and others. It’s really just about common courtesy.” Tomlinson said he and the other peace officers are allowed to use their own discretion at all times.
“At the end of the day, that’s what we get paid for, that’s our job. It’s our biggest tool. We want to be on the side of the public, we’re working for the residents of the City of Airdrie. The biggest thing is to understand that we’re on the side of the responsible pet owners,” Tomlinson said. “These tools are for situations that we face when there’s typically irresponsible pet owners involved. We can always use our discretion in these situations.”
The sessions resulted in a lot of feedback, according to Tomlinson.
“It’s been really good. A lot of people raising their concerns and getting clarification,” he said. “There’s been a ton of research done by the public and they’ve been bringing good, valuable points from the side of the pet owners.”
The feedback sessions were just the first step towards finalizing the animal control bylaw.
“We’ll be collecting information until Feb. 11,” Tomlinson said. “I believe in a two month span after that we’re going to propose all the changes to this version of the draft and go forward with that to council. I’m not sure if there will be another public hearing at that point or if that will be the final stage.” Nordick said she’s cautiously optimistic that the final Animal Control Bylaw will meet the needs of everyone in the community, but she does have some words of advice for other dog owners.
“The biggest thing I want to say to the community is read the bylaws. It’s a long document. If something doesn’t read right to you, email Municipal Enforcement. Read it. If you have something to say, say it. Don’t wait until after it passes to have an opinion. They’re asking for our opinion as dog owners.” The draft Animal Control Bylaw can be found online at airdrie.ca
