By Andrew de Souza

City to reconsider animal control bylaw

Jan 25, 2011 | 5:12 AM

After strong response from the public and the Prince Albert SPCA, city council has decided to revisit its newly elected animal control bylaw and the fees associated with it.

On Monday, Coun. Cheryl Ring said she wanted the Responsible Pet Ownership bylaw to come back to council to be reworked. Her issue was that the fine and license structures had been changed to ignore whether or not an animal had been fixed without the SPCA’s input and the public had reacted negatively.

“I believe that the (bylaw) needs to differentiate between altered and unaltered animals,” said Ring.

“There is certainly concern and support from the community to have a duel fee structure.”

“I’d also like to reconsider the penalties for nonconformity with the bylaws and to look at restoring the fees that were originally proposed.”

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Ring’s motion caused a debate in council chambers.

Mayor Jim Scarrow said having higher fines and license fees would make it difficult for less-wealth pet owners to afford their animals.

“The fines as proposed are going to be very difficult for many people that just don’t have the wealth or the means—it’s a lot of money,” said Scarrow. “I would not reconsider this bylaw if it was going to put those fines back into place.”

Coun. Greg Dionne added to the mayor’s remarks. He said not only would higher fines and licensing fees be unfair to people who make less money, but reconsidering the bylaw itself would be giving too much power to the SPCA.

“For lots of the seniors that have phoned, they’re not their pets, they’re their friends,” said Dionne. “And they are so petrified what’s going to happen to their friend when their friend gets out and caught up and they can’t afford to get their friend out because they’re on a fixed income.”

“Not to take any weight away from the SPCA, but at the end of the day, that’s what we’re about — we’re nine councillors who represent the whole city and we have to make those decisions.”

Coun. Atkinson suggested the city should have, all along, just adopted the recommendations put forward by the SPCA and the city’s bylaw department. He also suggested it might be a compromise to allow for a period of time where licensing fees were relaxed so people could afford to register their pets and now be afraid of them getting away.

In the end, council voted to readdress the bylaw in a 5-4 vote. The result is that the bylaw will be sent back to administration for further recommendations and council will vote on any changes that come forward.

In the meantime, the bylaw is still in effect as it is written. It is available on the city’s website.

adesouza@panow.com