Stricter animal control bylaw could soon pass in Sudbury

Greater Sudbury is inching closer to giving its vicious dogs bylaws more teeth.

On Tuesday the operations committee of city council unanimously voted in favour of a slew of recommendations to enhance the current animal control bylaw in an effort to deter dog attacks.

These mostly involve higher fines,stricter enforcement measures, and a public education campaign.

This comes after a steady increase in the number of vicious dog attacks reportedover the last six years. According to the city, 348 of those reports were filed last year.

So far in 2024 there were 101 reported vicious dog attacks, and an average of 12 animal-related calls per day.

It's a trend councillor Joscelyne Landry-Altmann attributes to COVID-19 pandemic era.

"I'm thinking that what we saw in COVID where everybody and anybody was selling dogsis contributing somehow to this delinquent pet ownership," she said.

Currently, the city's manager of bylaw services deems a dog vicious if there is an unprovoked attack that warrants concern for public safety.

If ratified by city council as a whole, the amendments to the bylaws would include:

• Vicious dogs being required to obtain a specific licence to be worn at all times, to assist with data management and identification;
• Owners of vicious dogs being required to supply annual photographs of the dog for identification purposes;
• Explicitly prohibiting vicious dogs from using the city's dog parks, even if leashed and muzzled;
• Bylaw officers conducting annual inspections for animals that have been deemed vicious;
• Increasing fines for offences such as failing to obtain a tag, walking a dog off leash or being the owner of a dog that has bit or attacked a human or another dog.

City council is also being asked to consider putting together a proactive communication strategy and public education campaign to curb the number of dog attacks in the community.

"I think the best measure for us is to try and have prevention and I think that this education campaign hopefully will serve to reduce the number of incidents and number of calls received per day," said councillor Mike Parent during Tuesday's operations committee meeting.

Thatcampaign is projected to cost between $20,000and $30,000.

The proposed changes still need to be approved by council to be final. Their next regular meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 28.