A new Abbotsford bylaw would set three-dog limit
Abbotsford is unleashing a new dog bylaw that would allow residents to own up to three Rovers.
City council approved a bylaw change Monday that would increase the number of dogs residents can legally keep on a property from two to three, bringing it in line with several other municipalities in the region.
The move, prompted by a request last year from an area dog owner, is supported by the city’s bylaw department and the B.C. SPCA. It will be the subject of a public hearing March 18, before final approval.
“We’re not expecting it to have any significant impact on enforcement. We don’t think that just because three dogs are allowed, that everyone will go out and get three dogs,” said Abbotsford’s manager of bylaw services, Gord Ferguson. “But it could help in some ways to find homes for dogs who don’t have homes.”
The SPCA’s Lorie Chortyk said the humane society supports the bylaw in principle, provided people adopt additional animals only if they can care for them.
“It would be great if (the bylaw) impacted the number of people looking for a dog, as we do have a shelter in Abbotsford,” Chortyk said. “... It’s great for people to have three dogs if they have the financial means to care for them; if not, they shouldn’t.”
Ferguson said that last year bylaw officers issued 89 tickets to residents for failure to buy a dog licence. Four tickets of $150 were issued to residents who had more than two dogs.
A January report to council recommending the change noted there were 8,500 dogs licensed in the municipality as of 2011 — of Abbotsford owners who have dogs, two-thirds have one and one-third had two licensed dogs. Out of 19 other regions that the report reviewed, 11 allow three dogs, seven allow two dogs and one — Port Moody — allows four dogs.
Abbotsford resident Diane Davies first introduced the idea last spring. The devoted the notion that the bylaw could lead to more dog-related disturbances.
“If you are a good dog owner, you are going to be a good dog owner, and if you are a bad one, you’ll be a bad one. It doesn’t matter if you have one or three dogs,” Davies said. eoconnor@theprovince.com twitter.com/elainereporting