On-the-spot fines for owners of dangerous dogs not muzzled (Brockville, Canada)

 
 

On-the-spot fines proposed for owners of dangerous dogs not muzzled

By RONALD ZAJAC
Staff Writer
 
The city's animal control officer may soon be able to issue fines on the spot to owners of dangerous dogs that are not muzzled in public.
 
City council's finance and administration committee is recommending the full council approve changes to Brockville's animal control bylaw providing for the measure.
 
The full council is expected to vote on the matter at its regular meeting next Tuesday.
 
The recommendation comes after a July 25 incident in which two rampant pit bulls bit one man and chased another in a wheelchair. The dogs were seized and subsequently euthanized.
 
City staff and councillors made no reference to that incident when discussing this recommendation at yesterday's finance committee meeting.
 
Revisions to the province's Dog Owners' Liability Act (DOLA), enacted in 2005, prohibit individuals from owning, breeding, transferring, importing or abandoning pit bulls.
 
But individuals who already owned pit bulls at the time are able to keep them, provided they comply with requirements set out in the amendments and the regulations.
 
These conditions include keeping pit bulls leashed, muzzled and securely maintained on the owner's property.
 
But under the current animal control bylaw, if the city wants to charge a resident for failing to comply with DOLA's muzzling provisions, it must issue a summons to the offender to appear in court, a long and costly process, notes a report by city staff.
 
Instead, staff is suggesting council amend the bylaw to add wording about muzzling.
 
It would require pit bull owners keep their dogs muzzled at all times except when the animal is within the owner's enclosed property, or the enclosed property of another person who consents to the dog being without a muzzle.
 
It would also allow the animal control officer to deem any dog dangerous if it "has bitten, attacked or behaved in a manner that poses a menace to the safety of persons or domestic animals."
 
And it would set the fine for anyone with an unmuzzled dangerous dog in public at $100.
 
The staff report notes there are about 25 pit bulls within the city, and about half the pit bull owners known to the city do not comply with muzzling requirements despite warnings.
 
The point of the amendments is to make it easier to enforce muzzling rules, Jannette Amini, administrative co-ordinator in the city clerk's office, told the committee.
 
"It would allow our animal control officer to issue a ticket right on the spot," she said.
 
But committee chairman Councillor Stu Williams wanted a tougher fine.
 
"A hundred dollars to me is peanuts," said Williams, calling such a fine "a bit of a joke" considering the kinds of injuries pit bulls can cause.
 
Williams later reminded the committee his daughter-in-law was once bitten by a pit bull.
 
"I don't think the penalty is strong enough," he said.
 
Councillor Henry Noble agreed, saying he wishes the city could ban pit bulls outright. He said he knows someone who has been scarred for life by a dog attack.
 
Noble called for fines of $250 on the first offence and $500 on the second.
 
People who tend to have pets of this type often have a "different psychology" and do not seem to care much for the consequences of their animals' behaviour, said Noble.
 
Amini said city staff already has the authority to seize a pit bull if it attacks someone. The city can then go to court for an order to have the animal destroyed.
 
The amendments sought here are not for dogs that attack, but rather pets that should be muzzled but aren't, said Amini.
 
"I would rather prevent it than deal with it after somebody's been bitten," Noble replied.
 
Committee members nonetheless backed the recommendations as proposed by staff, with Councillor Jane Fullarton noting the fines can be increased if they prove not to faze offenders.
 
As the committee passed the recommendation, Noble took advantage of the occasion for a pun on his famous campaign slogan, "No Bull with Noble."
 
"I would say no pit bull with Noble," he quipped.