Owners need ID if pooch pooh-poohs rules
Dog owners caught scorning statutes for Snoopy must produce identification or face a $200 fine, according to proposed new rules at city hall.
Stopping and showing photo ID when asked by a bylaw enforcement officer—if a person is suspected of possessing a bylaw-violating dog—is among a raft of changes to animal control regulations considered late Tuesday by a city council committee.
An owner failing to leash a dog, for example, could face a $150 fine, and an additional $200 penalty upon refusing to be identified.
“It formally makes it an offence to not provide identification,” explained Ted Townsend, city spokesperson. “Because it’s now an offence we would be able, for instance, to seek police assistance, and the police could intervene and require people to provide identification.”
It’s among bylaw infractions proposed to be moved under the jurisdiction of the city’s bylaw violation dispute adjudication system, and away from provincial court. Currently the system is primarily used for disputes over parking tickets.
“It’s always been the intention to move more of our bylaw matters (to the) adjudication process versus the courts,” said Townsend. “It’s just much more effective and efficient. It can take months if not years for bylaw matters to work their way through the courts.”
Other proposed changes to animal control regulations include adding new rules targeting dog owners who tether their pets. Councillors asked for the changes last September after hearing an appeal from the Ban Resident Dogs group.
Current rules already prohibit use of choke collars and chains to secure animals, while new rules would require tethers to be at least three metres long. Also proposed is a one-hour limit to unattended tethering of an animal.
Staff are also proposing new off-leash areas for dogs to address demand and overcrowding in existing areas. Woodward’s Slough Park area, at the south end of Garden City Road, would become an area for licensed professional dog walkers. In Steveston Park, a temporary fenced off-leash area would become permanent. In Dover Park, a fenced off-leash area would be created on a six-month trial.
City council must still approve the new measures.
Proposed new pet rules
•Owner in possession of a dog violating rules must produce ID for bylaw enforcement officer
•Tethers must be at least 3 metres long and not attached to choke collar
•No pet can be tethered longer than 1 hour in any 6 hour period
•An animal must be in a fully enclosed travel cage fastened to vehicle if being transported in the uncovered exterior of a vehicle
•Length of leash for dogs designated “dangerous” is 1.2 metres
•Owner of dogs designated “dangerous” must be at least 19 years old
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