Stiffer fines, higher licence fees in updated city bylaw

Steinbach city council raised fines and licence costs, strengthened rules and clarified other parts of the animal control bylaw. First reading was approved on Tuesday.

Adam Thiessen, Steinbach corporate services manager, said in a summary to council that changes were being proposed to improve the ability of animal control officers to seize animals, combine the pit bull bylaw passed in 1991 with the animal control bylaw passed in 2010, clarify that property owners are solely responsible for removing wildlife, increase dog licence fees, reduce nuisance issues from dogs being left outdoors and improve enforcement of dog park rules by adding provisions to the bylaw.

Owners of suspected pit bulls will also be required to obtain a veterinarian’s opinion as to the breed going forward.

City Manager Troy Warkentin said in the summary that the update was initially spurred on by requests from the city’s animal control service provider to improve their ability to address repeat offences by adding more options for the seizure of animals.

“Since administration was opening the bylaw for review, a number of other updates were added to the draft for consideration of council,” he wrote. “These suggested draft changes are intended to reduce ongoing repeated bylaw contraventions and to generally reduce nuisance dog issues for residents going forward.”

The new provisions will make an impact.

Previously the seizure of an animal could only be performed in the case of an absence of a dog licence, expired licence or no city tags, if a dog has bitten or is alleged to have bitten a human or if a dog or cat is running at large.

The amended bylaw allows seizures to take place for any bylaw contravention that isn’t remedied within 14 days of giving notice, for situations where three or more tickets have been issued for the same offence or if there is a perceived threat to public safety, such as pit bulls, prohibited animals or aggressive dogs that are not properly confined.

Dog licence fees which previously cost $25 for an unaltered dog and $10 for a fixed or neutered pet will also see a dramatic increase with the price for unaltered dogs going up 140 percent to $60, and fixed or neutered pets rising 150 percent to $25. That’s way above inflation which according to the Bank of Canada inflation calculator should result in increases from $25 to $34.45 for unaltered dogs and $10 to $13.78 for neutered dogs.

Those numbers are consistent with other municipalities however where licence fees for unaltered dogs range from $35 in Winkler to $64 to $129 in Winnipeg. Fees for fixed or neutered dogs range from $21 in Brandon to $35 in Winkler. Winnipeg has a range in that category of $14 to $41.

Dogs will require licensing at six months old, three months longer than the bylaw previously stated.

Dog owners will no longer be able to leave their pets outside when they’re away.

The bylaw has been changed to require dog owners to have a responsible person who is capable of controlling the dog on their property when the dog is outdoors.

New provisions for dog park rules have also been added, ensuring enforcement can be applied to those who do not pick up their pet’s excrement or refill holes their pets have dug.

Some fines have also increased including the fine for failure to ensure a dangerous or aggressive dog remains contained on private property or is muzzled when off private property. That fine is doubled from the previous $100 if paid in seven days and $200 after, to $200 and $400.

The list of prohibited animals has also been lengthened to provide clarity and offer more examples.

Steinbach prohibits the owning of all dogs other than domesticated dogs. That includes wolves, foxes, coyotes, hyenas, dingoes, jackals, raccoon dogs, bush dogs and any other hybrid offspring.

It also includes all cats that aren’t domesticated including lions, tigers, leopards, ocelots, jaguars, pumas, panthers, mountain lions, cheetahs, wild cats, cougars, bobcats, lynx, serval and any hybrid.

All bears are forbidden as are crocodilians which include alligators and crocodiles.

All reptiles and snakes classified as venomous whether or not they have venom glands are also prohibited.

All snakes of the families Pythonidae and Boldae are prohibited.

Types that are mentioned include green anaconda, yellow anaconda, reticulated python, African rock python, Burmese python, Indian python and amethyst python.

The bylaw also includes the banning of “any snake or species or subspecies of snake that can reach an adult length greater than three metres, whether the particular snake exceeds that length or not” as well as lizards with a length greater than two metres.