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Richmond beefs up dog bylaws, fines
Elaine O'Connor
The Province
Friday, May 27, 2005
Richmond has introduced tough new bylaws and higher fines in a bid to beef up dog control and improve public safety.
Don Pearson, Richmond's manager of community bylaws, says this week's move will "allow both the people using the parks who don't have animals and the people who are walking their dogs to mutually enjoy parks in the city."
Among the changes:
- A new offence making dog owners liable and charging them a $100 bylaw fine if their animals kill, injure (bite or attack) or harass (chase and knock down or jump on) another person or animal.
- A new bylaw banning any owner of any breed of dog from having more than three dogs off-leash in an off-leash dog park at one time, subject to a $100 fine.
- A new bylaw making it an offence to have dogs designated by the city as "dangerous" off-leash in any city park, even a designated dog park, subject to a $300 fine.
"You can't let your dangerous dog run at large in an off-leash park. You can take your dog there, but they have to be on leash, for control," Pearson said.
Many of the existing penalties have also increased.
Owners will pay $100, up from $75, if they fail to leash or clean up after their pet. An existing animal- noise provision had its fine increased from $100 to $250. Licensing for dangerous dogs now runs as high as $200.
The city does not plan to increase enforcement staff. Seven on-road resource officers currently deal with off-leash dogs, dog waste and licensing; six bylaw officers are in charge of barking and dangerous-dog complaints.
Fees for licensing and services such as impounding, neutering or spaying have also gone up. And there are new fines for pet stores.
Michelle Rodgers, Richmond branch manager of the B.C. SPCA, said the increases put Richmond on par with what other municipalities charge.
"We retain all the service fees here and that will obviously help offset our bottom line," she added.
Richmond took over enforcement from the SPCA in September 2004. Since then, feedback from enforcement officers persuaded the city to update bylaws, which were approved at a Tuesday council meeting.
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DANGEROUS DEFINITION
The City of Richmond defines a dangerous dog as:
- Any dog that has killed or injured a person or pet.
- Any dog that an animal-control officer has reasonable grounds to believe is likely to kill or seriously injure a person.
- A dog that aggressively harasses or pursues a person, pet or farm animal.
- A dog trained for dog fighting.
- A pit bull terrier, American pit bull terrier, pit bull Staffordshire bull terrier, American Staffordshire terrier or any mix of those breeds.
© The Vancouver Province 2005