REGINA - The increased number of animal attacks across the city is prompting the City of Regina to look at ways to change the Animal Bylaw. During Wednesday's city council meeting, A motion to look at revising the bylaw was presented by Ward 8. Coun Shanon Zachidniak, with former councillor Terina Nelson supporting it.
Several delegates talked about the need to change the bylaw, including Lisa Koch of the Regina Humane Society (RHS), who pointed out that the city and its key stakeholders have not looked at revising the bylaw since 2011.
Because of this, Koch noted the RHS has encountered "a wide range of complex and exceptional situations which the bylaw doesn't adequately address."
Koch mentioned how cities across Canada, including Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton, have updated their Animal Bylaws, which has addressed issues like unsupervised tethering, where an animal is left tied to an object without any supervision.
During an answer to a question, Koch noted how "a tethered dog... Which is [typically] ignored. [Eventually], will become aggressive when it escapes from its yard... That is a product of irresponsibility."
Even though the RHS' goal is for the protection of communities and well-being of animals, Koch pointed out, "[we] have no authority to seize animals under the Regina Animal Bylaw."
The only way the RHS can seize an animal is under the Animal Protection Act of Saskatchewan. However, in order to do that, the RHS has to get a warrant issued by the Justices of The Peace.
To get a warrant, Koch said, "it acquires substantial evidence and information to be provided to that justice."
Because of the lack of action the RHS can take, animal attacks in the city are up 52 per cent from last year, said Koch.
This has led to several Regina residents pleading with city council to change the animal bylaws.
Sharing their stories
One of those residents is Kwasi Adu. During his delegation, he went through what he described as an "ordeal."
Adu explained he was waiting at a bus stop. After waiting for the bus for a few minutes, Adu saw a pitbull running after several people on the street.
The pitbull appeared to be walking with its owner without a leash, said Adu. After running around, the dog jumped in the direction of Adu. The pit bull attacked Adu viciously as he screamed, helplessly attempting to fend the pitbull off.
As the dog was biting Adu’s arm, it momentarily left to follow the female Adu presumed to be its owner. Shortly after, the dog jumped a fence to attack Adu again, where he fell on the ground trying to fend it off.
After falling on his head, Adu started to deal with severe headaches. He later was told by his doctor that he had occipital neuralgia, which is a condition that causes pain in the back of the head.
Adu is hoping to change the Animal Bylaw to where known vicious dogs are muzzled out in public. Additionally, Adu wants vicious dogs not to be allowed near daycare centres. He brought up that if a minor or child was attacked in his situation, they could have been killed.
Another person speaking out was Tiffany Kleppe, a single mother. Kleppe currently lives next to a house with a large number of animals. Kleppe mentioned the homeowner didn’t allow any of the animals they housed to be let outside.
The stench from the animals has caused the outside of Kleppe’s home to smell, preventing her from using her HVAC system and letting her kids play outside.
Last year, city officials took dozens of dogs from the property. Kleppe is hoping that the city can change the amount of animals that can be sheltered in a home. Currently, there are no restrictions regarding that.
Kleppe also wants to increase the enforcement inspections of properties that have a large number of animals.
Council’s decision:
City council voted unanimously to review the Animal Bylaw in two phases. City administration will undertake a review for phase one, during which they will consult key stakeholders and community members to plan out options and recommendations that will be tabled in Q4. It's possible that administration could have a report ready by Q3, but an extra few months will give them more time to hear any feedback.
After city council ended, Regina Mayor Chad Bachynski spoke about his reaction to hearing residents share their stories. "It's very challenging, and it's hard to hear some of those stories. I think it's important that we move forward and take action where we can, and I think that was a good step today in addressing some of those, and again this comes down to public safety."
