Strathmore town council discussed the Responsible Animal Control Amending Bylaw during last night's council committee of the whole meeting. The main topic was adding fees and penalties to the draft bylaw.
The Responsible Animal Control Amending Bylaw 22-20 will enforce contraventions under the current Responsible Animal Control Bylaw 18-18. This bylaw outlines the amendments required to introduce fines associated to violations pertaining to Bylaw 18-18.
The town may revisit the issue at the regular council meeting next week to have the fees and penalties approved by council. At a later date, the full bylaw may be reviewed.
The topic of vicious animals in the town was discussed, and the meeting revealed that the town is working with a dog behaviouralist in order to determine if an animal is deemed vicious.
Mayor Pat Fule referenced an incident that took place on June 5th in Calgary, where a senior was mauled to death by three dogs that had escaped from a neighbouring property.
“I think we definitely need to have some teeth in the bylaw. Once we do educate, our bylaw officers are really good at trying to bring people up to speed as to what they can and can't do. But there does come a time when you need to have something in your back pocket,” said Fule.
“I've walked around the community quite a bit and I know there are a lot of off-leash dogs along the canal inside the town boundaries, and you do worry with the latest event that happened in Calgary. We do have to make sure our residents are protected and that animals are under control and we're ready for something if it does turn badly,” said Fule.
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