By Colleen Dane
Record Staff Writer
Sep 01 2006

From miniature Pinschers to a Neapolitan Mastiff, Tamara Drummond and her mother love their dogs. All 10 of them.

With a family like that though, said Drummond, they’re really concerned about new regulations by the Comox Strathcona Regional District regarding dog kennels.

“This new bylaw that is being proposed is absolutely ridiculous. I live in the country for a reason. So that I may have my dogs,” wrote Drummond in a letter to the Record, following its initial report on the new regulations last week.

The new rules, which were approved by the regional district board on Monday, classify any home with four or more adult dogs as a kennel, and therefore subject to requirements designed to uphold the CSRD’s noise bylaws.

Drummond, who lives in Fanny Bay, said the regulations put an unfair onus on the dog owners though. She said between her mom and boyfriend, they do all they can to not leave the animals alone for long — and that when they do leave for a few hours, the dogs are in a fully-contained pen away from the road, with access inside if the dogs want to escape the weather.

They’re trying their best, she said — but complaints from neighbours still come — and that’s what makes them really worried.

The regional district staff has said that the kennel regulations are designed to deal with problem situations on a complaint-activated basis only — and that if someone happens to have four or more dogs but nobody has concerns, the regional district would probably never know that a “kennel” by definition is there — and would not worry about enforcing these regulations.

Drummond’s mother (who didn’t want to be identified) said her neighbours’ concerns could still cause problems though, despite their efforts.

“I shouldn’t be living defensively,” she said about the perception of her dogs — the only one of which that made noise during a recent visit to the home was a small white dog named Ginger.

Regional district staff said they understand that regulations like these will concern people in the electoral areas with four or more dogs — but emphasized that they’re not out to wantonly punish people.

The regulations, said James Bast, manager of protective services for the district, are meant to give the regional district the ability to approach owners and try to find solutions to noise problems.

“The range of options will always begin with trying to find a voluntary compliance with a bylaw,” said Bast. “Sometimes the answer isn’t written in the bylaw, sometimes it’s written in common sense.”

While the new regulations include rules about lot size and setbacks for newly established kennels, owners or commercial kennel operators that were already operating are grandfathered as legal non-conforming locations.

People like Drummond won’t have to worry about the property size regulations, but they will have to follow other rules like keeping dogs indoors between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m., as well as during a breaktime of noon to 2 p.m.

They will also be required to have someone on the property at all times to ensure that the noise bylaw is not contravened.

Bast said that if a complaint is vindictive in nature, staff will be able to tell pretty quickly. The regulations are to control noise, he said, not to battle between neighbours.

Only if staff are met with blatant obstinance or downright refusal of consideration by the subject of complaints would they consider using the “big hammers,” such as ticketing or legal action, said Bast. Those however are a last resort, he said — one they don’t use often.

reporter@comoxvalleyrecord.com

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