Iqaluit considers 'responsible pet owner' bylaw

Atchie Qutaiguq says for the last year, he's been worried sick about his daughter's safety every time she goes out to play near their home in Iqaluit.

Qutaiguq says one of his neighbours owns a dog that's aggressive and dangerous.

"I've been having a problem with this particular dog,"Qutaiguq says. "This is the fourth time this same boxer dog has nearly attacked my daughter."

His concerns are particularly acute because 17 years ago his partner's child was attacked and killed by a dog.

"It's every parent's worst nightmare, losing a child twice. It happened to her before and it kind of seems like it is closing on her again."

Qutaiguq says he's tried to deal with the problem, by calling both municipal enforcement and the RCMP, but he says nothing has been done.

WhenQutaiguq went to Iqaluit city council this week to ask for help, councillors happened to be discussing a new 'Responsible Pet Owner' bylaw.

''We are going to make you responsible for your dog'

"During the old bylaw we had limited ability to deal with vicious dogs or things like that," said Kevin Sloboda, Iqaluit's chief municipal officer.

According to municipal enforcement, its most frequent animal control calls last year were dog bites, barking dogs and, overwhelmingly, "dogs at large."

"Basically we are going to make you responsible for your dog," Sloboda said.

"And if you are not going to be responsible for your dog then decisions will be put inplace to either remove your dog or [make it so] you can't have one."

Council unanimously supported the bylaw Tuesday,and it passedboth first and second readings.

If it passes third reading, the bylaw will require all cat and dog owners to have a licence for their pets. It would alsoinclude a variety of fineable offences, such as leaving your pet loose and unattended, not reporting a suspected case of rabies, and allowing your animal to disturb the peace. For animals that are deemed to be vicious, there would be even greater penalties.The fines range from $100 for a loose animal to $2,000 for a vicious animal attack.

The bylaw will also provide guidelines on what constitutes neglect and maltreatment.

Qutaiguq is hopeful a new bylaw will make a difference, but he worries it won't go far enough.

For now, Qutaiguqsays he and his daughter will continue carrying pockets full of rocks to keep neighbourhooddogs at bay.