ANIMAL ADVOCATES SOCIETY OF BC
Box 114, 103-1075 Marine Drive,
North Vancouver, BC, V7P 3T6
604-984-8826
office@animaladvocates.com

December 21, 2005

Mayor Sam Sullivan and Councillors,
The City of Vancouver

Re: Yard Dogs in Vancouver;

Dear Mayor Sullivan and Councillors,

The Problem

Beginning in 2001, Animal Advocates of BC has been informing Vancouver councils of the extent of the yard dog problem in Vancouver: The cruelty to the dogs; the danger to the public; the severe emotional distress suffered by compassionate neighbours who are forced to witness the misery of these dogs and listen to them cry at night, especially in storms; the nuisance to neighbours whose peace is ruined by chronic barking and crying; the forcing of people to break the law and "rescue" the dog when appealing to the City when the SPCA has made no change; and not least, the expenses to taxpayers of court cases when desocialized yard dogs bite and of Animal Control employees responding to complaints, impounding, and destroying. There are few jobs in an outright ban and a lot of jobs in regulations/enforcement/impound/disposal, and these jobs are an unnecessary cost to taxpayers.

Animal Advocates of BC has given the City documentation of many individual cases, statistics, photographs, video, and research, for over four years. During that time many people have been bitten by yard dogs and youngster Shenica White had her life altered forever by an attack that was entirely preventable by a ban on keeping dogs in yards.

In June 2001 we presented council with our report "IT'S TIME!" comprising many documented cases with comprehensive research on the psychological and physical suffering and the public danger of yard dogs. The City decided that the SPCA must use its powers to "do something" about the cruelty (under pressure from the City, the SPCA agreed to do what is almost impossible under the PCA Act and consequently nothing at all was done and Shenica White was almost killed), while it refused to take the simple step of simply banning the keeping of dogs in yards by claiming that the City Charter prevented it from a ban; but the Charter explicitly permits such bylaws, and in fact there are more than 40 bylaws around the keeping of dogs.

Chapter 55, Section 324A: Keeping of Animals: (g) for regulating the keeping of horses, dogs, cows, goats, swine, rabbits an other animals, and for defining areas within which such animals may be kept or which the keeping of them is prohibited.

An Attempted Solution by the City

In November this year the City adopted some regulations re the keeping of dogs:

P&E Committee Agenda October 6, 2005 Chief License Inspector – New Animal Control By-Law and Amendments to the License By-Law and Noise Control By-Law June 13, 2005 2 This group of by-law amendments can be implemented now under existing Vancouver Charter authority.

SECTION 5 KEEPING OF DOGS
Giving basic care to dogs
5.1 A person who keeps a dog, or a person who has care, custody or control of a dog, must give the dog food, water, shelter, and exercise sufficient to maintain the dog in good health.
Tethering dogs
5.2 A person who keeps a dog, or a person who has care, custody or control of a dog, must not tie or fasten a dog to a fixed object by using a choke collar or choke chain or by tying a rope, chain, or cord directly around the dog’s neck.
Enclosing dogs
5.3 A person who keeps a dog, or a person who has care, custody or control of a dog, must not confine the dog in an enclosure unless the air ventilation, temperature, and size of the enclosure are sufficient to maintain the dog in good health.
#9150 Sec. 4.5 A person who keeps an aggressive dog must, at all times while the dog is on property owned or controlled by such person, securely confine the dog either indoors or in an enclosed structure capable of preventing the entry of young children and adequately constructed to prevent the dog from escaping or biting a domestic animal or human being.

These bylaws have been in place in some other municipalities since the mid-1990's yet the problem has not improved, and #9150 Sec. 4.5 actually makes the cruelty problem worse as more dogs are kept in dirty little pens, and the danger problem worse as the dogs are made angry and aggressive by being kept in cages. AAS can show this with the many reports it receives from upset and angry dog lovers. What is needed is a ban on keeping dogs in yards, on chains, in pens, in garages, on decks; in fact, in any way that treats dogs worse than livestock. Most people who keep a dog this way will choose not to own a dog if they are not permitted to keep a dog this way.

What is needed is a limitation on the time a dog can be outside of the dwelling house and a ban on dogs being outside unattended, with no one to prevent their barking, ever.

A Comprehensive and Workable Solution

Animal Advocates Society is proposing the only workable solution to the multi-faceted problem of the existence of yard dogs in our communities.

A yard dog is any dog that is consistently left outside the family home unattended. Many yard dogs live their whole lives, night and day, summer and winter, in a yard, in a pen, on a chain, in a garage, on a balcony or under a deck.

The problem is six-fold

Animal Cruelty - it is cruel and inhumane to isolate social creatures. Dogs are allowed to be treated worse than livestock. Their suffering is profound and documented.
Public Safety - all data confirms that unsocialized dogs are a grave danger to the public, especially to children.
Public Nuisance - the dogs frequently bark, howl, cry, whine, escape, and menace, creating neighbourhood fear and anger. Noise complaints often results in further cruelty to the dog in the form of punishment and muzzling.
Public Expense - complaints and impoundment and disposal cost money, and these costs continue to rise as more dogs are owned.
Public Health - the areas the dogs are kept in are frequently contaminated with feces and urine and the food is a rodent attractant.
Lawlessness - when neighbours cannot get any action from city hall or the SPCA, they are forced to break the law by removing and rehoming the dog. A broad spectrum of people have been forced to do this, from off-duty police officers, lawyers, crown prosecutors, grandmothers, single mothers on welfare, wealthy socialites, ministers, community activists, and untold numbers of ordinary people who would not otherwise dream of committing a felony. They are forced by the lack of action from political leaders and the SPCA to become lawless.

The solution is simple and easily enforced. It is a ban on the keeping of dogs outside the family home unattended for more than one hour at a time during the day and no more than twice during a day, and not at all at night. We suggest that day be taken to mean from 7:00 a.m. to 7: 00 p.m. Those who intend to keep a dog outside will be discouraged by this restriction and will tend to not get a dog. "Unattended" means when no one is in the residence to respond to a noise or other complaint.

Education ought to accompany legislation, but is not a substitute for legislation. It took legislation to ban public smoking and to ensure seat belt-wearing. Education can take several generations to work, and suffering dogs must not be left to suffer and the public cannot be left at risk.

No tethering laws mean well, but result in dogs being kept in pens instead.

In the last month alone, AAS has had seven yard dogs reported to it in Vancouver. As we are not well-known, these reports would represent only a fraction of the dogs that are of concern. Some are loose in yards, some are in pens, some in garages. In every case the SPCA was informed and nothing changed. The City’s latest bylaw actually encourages and endorses the keeping of dogs in enclosures such as garages. Many dogs kept their whole lives in garages are also kept in cages so that they don’t scratch or chew objects in the garage. AAS has reported garage dogs to the SPCA but no change results. A civilized society would not permit such blatant cruelty when it is so easily stopped.

Animal Advocates Society would like to speak to council and present our reports on yard dogs and back yard breeding (enclosed) in January 2006. Please tell us if this is possible and if so, what date we may attend.

We look forward to your earliest response,

Judy Stone
President, AAS

Attachments (copy and paste links into your browser's address bar):

Behavioural/psychological effects of isolation, chaining, and substandard living conditions http://www.animaladvocates.com/its-time/It'sTime-research-behav.htm

Physical effects of isolation, chaining, and substandard living conditions
http://www.animaladvocates.com/its-time/It'sTime-research-physical.htm

Public safety issues of isolation, chaining and substandard living conditions
http://www.animaladvocates.com/its-time/It'sTime-research-safety.htm

Expert local opinion:

Dr. Stanley Coren:
Though best known to the public for his series of best-selling books on dogs, Stanley Coren is also a well respected scientist and Professor of Psychology at the University of British Columbia. He has earned the title of Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in recognition of his contributions to psychological research.
"The general consensus is that chaining out a dog for long periods makes it aggressive. There are even tracts which were found in the ruins of Pompeii suggesting that the way to make your guard dog vicious is to tether him on a short chain. If you believe anecdotal evidence (this from my own eleven years of teaching dog obedience classes), dogs which have been tied out are either vicious, fearful and hand-shy or both."

Gary Gibson, founder, Custom Canine:
Developed standards for training and placement of therapy and institute dogs throughout the lower mainland. Developed a program to work with psychiatrists who help people dealing with their fear of dogs. In 1990 received Certification to adjudicate the Canine Good Citizen Test, an internationally recognized standard for companion and therapy dogs. Co-developed the Canine Super Citizen Test, which is being used as a standard for social and assistant dogs in BC.
"Society is starting to realize that dogs have psychological needs. When you start messing with a dog's mind and not giving it the things it needs on a day-to-day basis, you are abusing that dog. And those needs are much greater than food, water, and shelter. In particular dogs need to feel part of a pack, even if that pack is human."

To view more photos of yard dogs in Vancouver, go to http://www.animaladvocates.com/yard-dogs/photos.htm

In September 2005, three witnesses reported to AAS that this Rottweiler wears both a painful “prong” collar and an electrical shock collar and was seen brought to its knees howling in pain when repeatedly shocked by the owner in full view of the witnesses. The Vancouver SPCA was complained to. The owners told AAS that the dog is never allowed in the house and is loose in the yard at all times. This is both cruelty to the dog and a looming public danger. City of Vancouver bylaws can force the owner to keep this dog in a pen. That would add to the cruelty and make the dog even more dangerous. It should not be an acceptable solution.