Green Coun. Adriane Carr has lost a ruff battle to change a city bylaw against leashing up dogs unattended in public.
Carr introduced a motion Tuesday for the city to tweak its animal-control bylaw, allowing dog owners to tie up their four-legged friends to a bike rack or parking meter outside stores. But Vancouver council voted to keep the bylaw as is.
“I’m very disappointed,” Carr said. “I think we left a bylaw in place that’s very broad in its approach and does leave it to the enforcement officer to impound a dog and fine its owner for just leaving a dog in a safe way.
“I really do believe that we have a chance to change our bylaw and really get at the kind of behaviour that we don’t want to see in the city,” she said, adding they could have tightened or changed the wording of the section in the bylaw.
City staff told council that 126 tickets were handed out last year for off-leash dogs, but only five owners got tickets for tying up their pooches outside stores.
Vision Coun. Kerry Jang said during the council meeting that the small number of tickets handed out shows that enforcement officers are mostly giving warnings to educate people and that they’re exercising a “great deal of discretion” when writing tickets.
Local news from metronews.ca/vancouver
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