City council gave initial approval Monday night to a new "responsible animal ownership" bylaw that will do away with designating specific dog breeds such as pit bulls as dangerous but includes a new category for "aggressive" dogs who pose a threat but have not yet seriously hurt or killed.
A dog declared aggressive by animal control officers will have to be sterilized, microchipped, live in an approved and inspected enclosure, be leashed and muzzled and banned from off-leash areas when outside and be subject to a $300 yearly licence fee.
Owners who dispute the designation will be able to appeal to the manager of bylaw services.
"We want to make it uncomfortable for people to have dogs in the community that pose a risk to our residents and to their pets," bylaw services manager Fred Crittendon told city council. "And we feel that these are steps moving forward that can help protect everyone in the community and put a financial hardship on people that have dogs that are not socialized and put the community at risk."
Dogs who have displayed aggressive behaviour or have caused a minor injury with a bite will be subject to the restrictions. To be deemed dangerous, the dog must have seriously injured or killed another animal or person or display reasonable grounds for committing such an act.
Owners of such dogs can appeal to the courts if officers find the animal should be destroyed.
Either way, a dog deemed dangerous will still be subject to the same restrictions as those deemed aggressive. Moreover, the owners will have to carry $2 million worth of liability insurance and pay a $500 annual licence fee.
Owners of either aggressive or dangerous dogs will also suffer a financial hit if their pet is impounded. They will have to pay a $50-per-day care fee on top of a $300 impoundment fee for an aggressive dog and a $500 impoundment fee for a dangerous dog. The fees will have to be paid prior to the dog's release with a 21-day limit on holds. Dogs not claimed within that time could be destroyed.
Since 2005, pit bulls, American pitbull terriers, Staffordshire bull terriers and American Staffordshire bull terriers or any cross of those breeds have had to be muzzled while out in public and kept in an enclosure while at home. Their owners have also had to pay as much as $247 extra for a licence and $229 more for a first-time impoundment.
Crittendon has said the current breed-specific restrictions have failed to make the community any safer and have been difficult to enforce. In the five years prior to the change, 14 of every 100 dogs bites reported were from either pit bull or pit bull crosses, but in the 10-year period since then they accounted for 23, according to city numbers.
The new aggressive dog designation was not enough to move Coun. Brian Skakun away from a concern that the measures will be "reactive" and likened the proposal to putting on snow tires after it snows.
"We're going to wait until there's aggression, we're going to wait until there's injury or other pets or someone's killed the way I understand it because they have to meet the criteria before the city acts," he said.
In response, Crittendon said the current version forces officers to keep their eyes on potentially hundreds of dogs who may be "very-well behaved and never caused a problem."
Adding the aggressive dog designation allows officers to monitor dogs who pose a threat and prevent them from causing more serious trouble, he said.
Skakun reluctantly voted in favour, noting there are many other good measures in the bylaw such as not allowing dogs to be tethered and putting greater control on cats. (See accompanying story.)
The process for designating a dog aggressive will begin when city hall receives a complaint.
"If I have an aggressive dog that's living beside me or anyone in the community, it's our responsibility to report that and make sure that my grandkids are safe, my smaller dogs are safe," Crittendon said. "People have to be aware of that, report it, allow us to do our job, be able to identify it and put proper restrictions in place."
In conducting research for the bylaw, Crittendon said an expert told him that once a dog reaches a certain level of aggression, it's always going to be there and can only be controlled.
Council unanimously passed the bylaw through three readings. It remains subject to a fourth and final reading.
