At its regular meeting Monday Yorkton Council consolidated its Animal Control, Cat Control and Dangerous Dog Bylaws into a single Animal Control Bylaw.
“As communities grow, new concerns often come to light and Bylaws must be reviewed to address this. Through conversations with community residents, the Bylaw Enforcement Officers and the City’s Poundkeeper, Administration has gathered additional feedback, which was taken into consideration during this review. Throughout the review process Administration endeavored to make changes that would increase the safety and wellbeing of the public and other animals within the City and encourage responsible pet ownership,” explained Nicole Baptist, Bylaw Coordinator, with the City.
Baptist said having a single combined bylaw “should be easier for the public to use and for Administration to review and maintain.”
The new bylaw clarifies the dog licenses section, said Baptist.
“Under the proposed bylaw, dog licenses will be on sale on January 1st for that current year and residents will have until the end of February to pick up a license to be in compliance with the bylaw,” she said.
Administration also changed the requirement for dogs to be leashed when off the property of the owner.
All dogs, when off the premises of its owner, must not be at large. If a dog is found to be at large the owner shall be deemed to have permitted the dog to be at large, and shall be guilty of an offence.
Administration also created a nuisance dog classification.
An Animal Control Officer may declare a dog a Nuisance Dog after three Notice of Violation tickets have been issued for offences under Sections 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, or 17 of this Bylaw, within a period of one year. The declaration of a dog as a Nuisance Dog shall be reviewed annually by the Animal Control Officer, who shall remove the declaration after a period of two years has passed with no Notice of Violation tickets issued.
“After a dog is listed as a “nuisance dog”, any ticket issued for nuisance type offences will be double in value,” said Baptist.
Administration changed the wording of Vicious Dog to Aggressive Dog. Administration also changed how dogs can become classified as Aggressive. With the proposed changes, any dog that is found guilty of an offence under Section 14, either by paying a voluntary fine or on summary conviction, may be deemed aggressive by the Bylaw Enforcement Officer.
A dog may be deemed aggressive: After the Animal Control Officer receives a written report of an aggressive dog incident. The Animal Control Officer shall complete an investigation and report. After the investigation, if there is sufficient evidence, the Animal Control Officer may deem the dog an aggressive dog where he/she feels it is in the best interest of public safety; or after any dog is found guilty of an offence listed under Section 14 of this Bylaw either on Summary Conviction or by paying a Voluntary Fine for an offence listed under Schedule “L”, specifically for offences relating to Section 14 of this Bylaw.
Administration also included an option to reduce specific fines by $100 for offences such as dog bites, chasing, etc. if a dog and owner complete an Obedience class.
The list of parks where dogs are not permitted was modified to include sports fields. Kinsmen Century Field was also removed from the Schedule, as it is not City property.
The revised bylaw passed all three reading Monday.
