STELLARTON
The penalties for Stellarton dog owners who refuse to follow the rules have just gotten stricter, after council approved its new dog bylaw.
The updated bylaw saw its second and final reading at the regular council meeting on April 23, with no concerns or issues from residents present.
“A lot of our bylaws go way back in history and are outdated,” said Coun. Bryan Knight in a call with The News. “We put more teeth in the bylaw for people who aren’t following the rules.”
The bylaw is inspired by one that was implemented in Antigonish County.
“The dog bylaw is against dangerous offending animals, and not breed specific,” said Coun. Simon Lawand during a discussion at the April 23 council meeting, referencing previous work on the bylaw.
Previously, Stellarton faced backlash from residents when the town accidentally published an original draft of the bylaw to its website. That version was the unaltered version of the Antigonish County bylaw it drew inspiration from, and had a breed-specific restriction in it.
“That was promptly taken down, because the town did not want that in there,” explained town clerk Susan Higdon in a call with The News. “People were quite upset, so we noted right away that it was the preliminary draft.”
Knight said the bylaw was subject to several revisions, and was sent back to the town police board several times. The new bylaw governs fines for not having dogs spayed and neutered, or having dogs off-leash where they must be on leash. It also takes into account protocol for the town’s part-time dog catcher.
Higdon noted that Coun. Knight is considering a further update to the bylaw to make dog tags free, “but that hasn’t been done officially and not brought forward.”
Knight emphasized the importance of dog tags, noting, “tagging is not to make profit,” but makes it far easier to bring dogs that are lost or at large back to their owners.
“Nobody is going to shoot a lost dog, but if the dog is dangerous, the dog catcher will pick them up, and if necessary they will be quarantined. Stellarton is probably one of the most dog-friendly towns in Canada. Dogs are like family to us,” said Knight.
Stellarton’s new dog bylaw has no breed-specific restrictions. Council deemed it necessary to update the bylaw – mostly in areas concerned with enforcement when they were notified of a number of local dog attacks on other dogs that resulted in one fatality and another extensively injured dog.
