{"id":17594,"date":"2017-06-21T16:55:53","date_gmt":"2017-06-21T20:55:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=17594"},"modified":"2017-06-21T16:55:53","modified_gmt":"2017-06-21T20:55:53","slug":"dangerous-dog-and-on-leash-crackdown-will-better-protect-the-public-council","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/dangerous-dog-and-on-leash-crackdown-will-better-protect-the-public-council\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cDangerous dog\u201d and on-leash crackdown will better protect the public: Council"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n

New provisions spelling out just what constitutes a \u201cdangerous\u201d dog, and a crackdown on leashes, will allow animal control officers to better protect the public, according to Council.
\nAurora approved a series of changes to the Town\u2019s existing Animal Control bylaws this week after they received tentative approval last Tuesday at General Committee.
\nAmong these changes is a move to follow Toronto\u2019s lead in defining what a \u201cdangerous dog\u201d is in municipal legislation.
\nThe move follows a motion earlier this year floated by Mayor Geoff Dawe to provide clarity on what can often be a very murky matter.
\nIn her report to Council, Mandie Crawford, Aurora\u2019s Manager of Bylaw Services, said Ontario\u2019s Dog Owners\u2019 Liability Act speaks to the responsibilities of dog owners, restricts pit bulls and gives Peace Officers the power to seize or quarantine animals under specific conditions, but there is some grey area.
\n\u201cThis legislation may not be appropriate in all circumstances where a minor bite or attack has occurred and has been investigated,\u201d she said. \u201cIntroducing \u2018dangerous dog\u2019 provisions in the Town\u2019s Animal Control Bylaw would enable officers to impose restrictions such as muzzling and\/or requiring a dog to receive behavioural training. This may adequately address the risk and allow dog owners to keep their pet under certain restrictions.\u201d
\nThe suggested amendments included allowing the \u201cdangerous dog\u201d label be applied to dogs that have \u201cbitten, attacked or pose a menace to the public\u201d following an \u201cinvestigation of the severity of the behaviour or bite.\u201d
\n\u201cProvisions would allow for an appeal to the Director who would have the ability to lift the \u2018dangerous dog\u2019 designation if they are of the opinion the dog has been rehabilitated,\u201d she said.
\nAdditional provisions would ban dangerous dogs from Canine Commons, Aurora\u2019s leash-free dog park near the top of Industrial Parkway North, muzzling the dangerous dogs when they are off their owner\u2019s property and requiring an increased licence fee to \u201coffset the extra administration for dangerous dogs.\u201d
\n\u201cOne or all of the restrictions could be imposed upon the dog depending on the severity of the bite or dangerous behaviour, the frequency of aggressive actions or attacks and would be progressive in nature if there is a reoccurrence,\u201d said Ms. Crawford. \u201cExemptions would be in place for dogs where an investigation of the attack reveals the dog was acting in self-defence.\u201d
\nAdditional amendments to the Animal Control bylaw will see dog owners restricted to leashes of three metres to address concerns that dogs on longer leashes are less likely to be brought under control by their owner, and restricting the handling of dogs on leashes to three at a time, and restricting the number of animals under one person\u2019s care at Canine Commons to three.
\n\u201cAdding provisions under the current bylaw to address leash lengths and their use, the number of animals on-leash that an individual may handle, and have oversight of while in the dog park will give Animal Control Officers more preventative and appropriate tools for enforcement,\u201d concluded Ms. Crawford.\u201d It will also assist dog owners with options for rehabilitation of dogs instead of answering to charges in court. Adding provisions for the keeping of animals during extreme weather conditions will reduce health risks to animals.\u201d
\nWhen the changes were brought forward to local lawmakers last week, they expressed support but questioned whether they actually went far enough.
\nCouncillor Wendy Gaertner, for instance, said she recently received a call from a member of the public about a dog being left in a nearby backyard they suspected was being treated improperly, barking excessively and \u201cgetting upset.
\n\u201cKids were actually getting upset and residents can\u2019t enjoy the peace and quiet of their backyard or home,\u201d said Councillor Gaertner, asking what can be done to help residents in this case.
\nIn response, Techa van Leeuwen, Aurora\u2019s Director of Corporate Services, said cases of persistent barking is a violation of the noise bylaw and would require a resident to keep a log of when the dog is barking to aid in a bylaw investigation. Complaints, she added, could also be relayed to the OSPCA if care is a concern.
\nNevertheless, Councillor Gaertner welcomed the changes on \u201cdangerous dog\u201d acts and leashes.
\n\u201cThis has been a problem for the Town and I think it is a problem for most municipalities about dogs being on leash and people being either scared or injured, and a lot of people do not adhere to the bylaw even though it is posted,\u201d she said. \u201cOf course, we can\u2019t control every single area, but I am glad to see we\u2019ve tightened it up and we\u2019re following Toronto\u2019s lead in this.\u201d<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New provisions spelling out just what constitutes a \u201cdangerous\u201d dog, and a crackdown on leashes, will allow animal control officers to better protect the public, according to Council.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-4zM","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-10 13:27:04","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17594\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}