Wildlife feeding ban targets extreme cases

KITCHENER — Kitchener councillors heard horror stories Monday night of squirrels, raccoons, skunks, rats and possums taking over a neighbourhood after one resident began to supply daily bags of nuts to wild animals.

Council passed a controversial ban on feeding wildlife after a two-hour discussion, tweaking the bylaw to ensure it dealt with only the most extreme cases where neighbours were affected.

The proposed ban sparked criticism from wildlife lovers who feared the city was taking a heavyhanded approach and overregulating ordinary activities.

Vivian Fuchs urged council to pass the bylaw amendment. Her Waterloo neighbourhood has seen an invasion of wild animals, from crows to rats, after a neighbour began leaving out “massive sacks of nuts twice a day.”

The feeding persisted, even though one neighbour and her children have severe peanut allergies, Fuchs said.

She showed photos of piles of nutshells mixed with feces, as well as video of rats using a dryer vent to enter and exit a home.

“Mice in the neighbourhood began to multiply rapidly,” destroying pool covers and electrical wiring.

“All of this has caused hundreds of dollars per house to remedy,” she said.

While she lives in Waterloo, she said she knows there are similar problems in Kitchener.

Gloria MacNeil, Kitchener’s director of bylaw enforcement, agreed. “We’ve dealt with complaints where we’ve got a couple of feet deep of fecal accumulation mixed with birdseed,” she said. “We’ve had issues with 25 to 30 ducks photographed on somebody’s front lawn.”

Several people came before

council to say they thought a blanket bylaw was too heavy-handed, and would create lawbreakers of ordinary citizens who innocently feed a few peanuts to a chipmunk.

“I realize you’re not going to come after the small offender, but the fact remains this bylaw in effect makes all of us who do this in breach of the bylaw,” said Joanne Quirion.

Council tweaked the bylaw to specify that the ban applied to those who fed wildlife “in a manner that creates a nuisance to an owner or occupant of any property.”

“This bylaw is for the extreme cases, where other residents are affected by the actions of one,” said Coun. Dave Schnider. “The fine is the last resort. Bylaw staff are not going to be spying into backyards. It gives our bylaw team the ability to act in extreme cases where discussion and education have not achieved results.”

The public outcry showed clearly that the city has to work harder to make sure it communicates properly about what it’s doing and why, said Coun. John Gazzola. “There was so much misunderstanding with this whole issue.”

Vickie Janetos, who has worked rehabilitating wild animals for years, said she was in favour of a ban on feeding wildlife, but said the issue was more complicated. “The food in garbage draws nocturnal animals into the city overnight,” Janetos said. “The answer is to put food into green bins, put clean recycling into blue bins and garbage into secured containers. Put your garbage out in the morning and take the empty containers in the same night.”

The ban would exempt the feeding of feral cats, as well as the feeding of wild birds.