City law enforcement can deal with dangerous dogs, acts as second SPCA

CLAUSES in rental agreements with the City provide that rental stock tenants cannot keep animals without the City’s permission.

It has been said that the City could use its by-laws to clamp down on people using backyards to breed dangerous dogs and use those laws to improve community safety.

Speaking to CapeTalk radio, safety and security Mayco member JP Smith said that when the City’s housing department signed rental agreements with tenants, there were certain provisions that applied. For example, tenants were not allowed to sell liquor from the house or be involved in criminal or anti-social behaviour. Unlawful conduct would include drug-dealing from rental units.

“You need consent to keep pets, and the City has a safety and security unit that specifically works with the rental space stock.

“When the housing department gets complaints about certain things, such as dangerous dogs or poorly kept animals in rental stock, it is that unit that will go to enforce the provisions of the rental agreements.“

“We don't get a lot of those complaints – they are extremely rare. However, people could be concerned about the manner in which neighbours are keeping dogs. This applies to not just dangerous dogs but also to those being badly cared for or neglected,” he said.

Smith said there were separate provisions in an animal-keeping by-law that dealt with dangerous dogs. The provisions stated that if a dog on your property attacked someone, causing that person harm, the animal could be impounded.

“We impound the animals to prevent further such cases, and to see if they can be rehomed. There are penalties in terms of the by-law for persons who are neglectful of their animals.

“There are also very serious penalties in the by-laws for dog-fighting in particular. We have run campaigns in many areas that are dog fighting hot spots to get the public to report the practice.

“Ocean View is an example of an area where we received some good tip-offs. People talked to our units about dog-fighting, and we were able to take action by confiscating animals and prosecuting people in conjunction with the SPCA,” Smith said.

He said the City had extensive animal protection provisions in the by-laws, and said law enforcement effectively acted as a second SPCA. In addition, it often took guidance from animal welfare organisation.

“We have a task team that works closely with the SPCA to address dog-fighting, and it has yielded very good results. But law enforcement can also go on to a property to inspect whether an animal is being maltreated or improperly confined.

“Suggestions were made to the City that certain dogs should be banned breeds. We looked into that, but we didn’t believe the law permitted us selectively to make such a ban,” he said. |