Coun. Dawn Luhning was walking her dog in December when an off-leash canine attacked them, leading the councillor to question how effective the community’s bylaws are on this issue.
“As a responsible pet owner, I don’t think that’s fair for people like me running or walking dogs around the city and have to deal with off-leash dogs. Animals are animals; they’ll do what they want to do,” she said. “And honestly, I don’t care if your dog is that well-trained and that you think it’s not going to come up to my dog and attack my dog; it happens.
“And for me and for my dog, it was a little bit stressful. I’ve had people email periodically over the years (about off-leash dogs), and it seems like lately, I’ve been getting a little bit more requests to see if this council can do anything about.”
Luhning brought her concerns to council during the June 28 regular meeting. She introduced a motion to have city administration review The Dog Bylaw for specific references to off-leash dogs and outdated language while also encouraging council to increase the fines for off-leash dogs that aren’t in the designated off-leash areas.
After discussing the issue, council voted unanimously in favour of the motion.
The starting fines for off-leash dogs are “very low” at $40, but bylaw officers must catch the offending pets and their owners to even hand out penalties, Luhning said. She thought the tickets were insufficient and would not persuade pet owners to keep their dogs on a leash.
Another issue Luhning wanted to be reviewed was the language in the bylaw since it says that if an off-leash dog is caught, peace officers have the power to “terminate” the animal.
“We do not want to be in charge of any of that,” she added.
Moose Jaw’s parks have been busier during the pandemic, which has been great to see, said Coun. Crystal Froese. She has cycled through Tatawaw Park and Wakamow Valley and had off-leash dogs chase after her. She thought there would be a crash even though the owner called after the animal.
During another incident while walking her two dogs in the valley, three “very large” off-leash dogs came over a hill at them. The owner came running after and said the dogs were friendly, which didn’t lessen Froese’s concerns as she attempted to control her pets.
“It really wrecked my morning walk because I was really frazzled (and) I was very worried that they would eat my little dog … ,” she continued. “I think it’s a good time to review (the bylaw) because it’s great to see the parks used, but we want to keep everybody as safe as possible while enjoying our parks.’
Besides incidents in the valley, there have also been concerns about off-leash dogs in their designated parks, said Mayor Fraser Tolmie. For example, he has received calls that large off-leash dogs have left their park in The Flats and entered the field for little dogs. He thought council needed to discuss this issue further and look at enforcing those specific parks.
This issue could be better addressed through education, similar to how city hall created videos addressing trash, said Coun. Jamey Logan. He was walking in Crescent Park recently and came across a resident with an off-leash dog who didn’t know that his dog had to be leashed. The man later said he was grateful for the information.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, July 12.
