If Battleford resident Melissa Kainberger had her way, dog owners would no longer be able to tether their dogs for more than 10 hours without being fined.
This was the proposal she brought to town council April 3, along with the results of an online petition on change.org that reached 1,474 signatures. Although online petitions are easily disregarded as not representing local people, Kainberger's message to council has, at the very least, started the conversation.
And according to Kainberger, council seemed receptive to her presentation.
"The mayor [Ames Leslie] said that he really wanted something like this to happen, so I felt positive about that," she said.
Included in her research was other towns and cities that had passed and successfully enforced animal control bylaws.
"At first they get a lot of complaints and give out a lot of fines, but over the span of, I think it was six months, it decreases dramatically, because people start bringing their dogs inside."
And, as a dog owner and lover, Kainberger said, “I have three dogs myself. I can't imagine leaving them outside. They're like lawn ornaments, they aren't getting interaction and they become depressed.”
But there's still extensive work that needs to be done before Kainberger will see a dog bylaw amendment presented at council. CAO John Enns-Wind said amending the bylaw is a priority, but the Town is currently in the process of updating many policies and it will take time to research and determine what terms will be enforceable.
"We can only do so much at a time. It's our goal to have that bylaw renewed in 2017," said Enns-Wind.
For now, Battleford's special constable Geoffrey Thompson has been asked to go over the research and to submit a report to administration before a bylaw amendment can be presented to council.
