Until the early 1990's municipal dog control bylaws did not have a humane component: they were purely for the control of dogs: dogs at large (stray), unleashed dogs, barking dogs, pooping dogs, and dangerous dogs.

In the District of North Vancouver, a group of ex-SPCA volunteers, who were so disgusted and angry at the callous, uncaring, and even cruel way dogs were treated by the North Vancouver SPCA, banded together and threatened to bid on the animal control contract which the Vancouver SPCA held with the District of North Vancouver along with 17 other animal control contracts in the Lower Mainland. Years of trying to get the SPCA to be humane by asking it to had failed to make the slighest diference. But a threat to its pound contract galvanized it into action. Eventually the humane provisions (below) were added to the dog control laws in the District of North Vancouver. But this simple thing was dragged out by the SPCA until the members of the group went their own way and the fuss died down, and the SPCA went on as before, completely ingnoring the new provisions in the bylaw that it could have used to lessen so much suffering. We know that the North Vancouver SPCA ignored the bylaw because the Manager, Jeff Lawson, admitted it to Sun columnist Nicholas Read. Behind the scenes, the SPCA actually tried to prevent the adoption of these bare-minimum standards in other muncipalities where AAS asked before councils for the bylaw to be adopted, just as when AAS asked, it prevented the provincial government from improving the PCA Act by the addition of these provisions.

These are the sections that resulted from this group's work:
(1) Anyone who keeps an animal must provide:

(a) clean, potable drinking water at all times, and suitable food, of sufficient quantity and quality to ensure normal growth and the maintenance of normal body weight;

(b) food and water receptacles kept clean and disinfected and located so as to avoid contamination by excreta;

(c) necessary veterinary medical care when the animal exhibits signs of pain or suffering.

(2) Shelter must:

(a) ensure protection from heat, cold, and wet, and that is appropriate to the animal’s weight and type of coat. Such shelters must provide sufficient space to allow any animal the ability to turn about freely, to sit, stand, and lie in a normal position:

(b) at least 1 1/2 times the length of the animal, and at least the animal’s length in width, and at least the animal’s height measured from the floor to the highest point of the animal when standing in a normal position, plus 10%;

(c) in an area providing sufficient shade to protect the animal from the direct rays of the sun at all times;

(d) any pen must be regularly cleaned and sanitized, and all excreta removed, at least once a day.

(3) No person may cause an animal to be hitched, tied or fastened by any rope, chain or cord that is directly tied around the animal’s neck or to a choke collar.