MEMORANDUM C t U i TO: Mayor and Council Se October 28; 1977 . _ OCT 31 1977 FROM: Environmental Protection Committee The Environmental Protection Committee met Thursday, October 27th, 1977 and discussed the following items: 1. Dog By-Law Amendment We have had some. difficulty in the past with the definition of 'dog* in our Animal Control By-law. The present definition includes the specific qualification that it is an animal "apparently over the age of six months." The definition was originally set in this manner due the fact that licences do not take effect until after the dog is six months of age. The difficulty we have been experiencing is the fact that dogs under the age of six months can still run at large and cause a nuisance by barking, and yet they are not covered by the provisions of the By-law. . We have discussed the matter with the City Solicitor and he recommends the following definition be inserted: "Dog" shall mean an animal of the canine species." In addition to the foregoing, there is a discrepancy in.the number of dogs permitted before the owners are considered to be operating a Kennel. The City’s Health By-law states that a 'kennel' is five or more dogs, whereas the Animal Control By-law states a kennel is for four or more dogs. In order to avoid legal complications, the two By-laws should be consistent. The Committee have given the matter consideration and feel that the number should be reduced to three or more dogs owned by an individual. There have been: problems recently with owners having three or four dogs in a residential area and not being subject to the kennel provisions of the Health By-law. , Kennels are not permitted in a residential zone.. In addition, there have been problems with owners in the agricultural area owning three or four dogs and reducing the kennel provision to three or more dogs would make these owners either subject to the kennel regulations or they would have to reduce the number of dogs owned to two or less.