Higher annual licensing fees for canines deemed aggressive are being proposed alongside other changes to Port Coquitlam's animal control bylaw.
The city's manager of bylaw services, Dan Scoones, told The Tri-City News Tuesday the amendments come after five years of working with the previous bylaw.
Since 2008, 32 aggressive dogs have been identified, defined as any dog with a known propensity to attack without provocation, one that has bitten someone, and/or used for dog fighting.
"All of these dogs have leash/muzzle conditions," said Scoones, "but about a half-dozen" have violated those terms, and "it makes work for us to have to follow up. There's quite a substantial regulatory and verification burden that comes with that."
The report says aggressive dog owners should pay more for their annual licences (a figure has not yet been determined), provide proof of liability insurance coverage, and display a sign on the property warning of the dog's aggressive nature.
Scoones anticipates a standard sign will be created and issued to those owners.
Another requested change will be that cat owners voluntarily agree to put identification (microchip, tattoo or collage and tag) on their felines, because stray cats picked up by municipal poundkeepers are only collected 20% of the time, compared to 80% for dogs.
"Unreturned cats typically stay in the pound for many weeks at municipal expense before being adopted out to new homes," read the report presented to PoCo's community safety committee (CSC) Wednesday afternoon.
Originally, the report said this identification initiative should be mandatory, but the committee rejected that idea, said Scoones.
Also proposed is that first-year licences be free to all dogs under six months of age to reduce staff time.
Currently, dog licence canvassers who come across an owner of a puppy younger than six months must make a note to follow up with that individual later on.
"This causes extra work and the reconnection is not always successful," read the report. "It is also common for an owner to misinterpret the exemption and conclude - wrongly - that the dog does not require a licence at any time in the first year."
Scoones said a bylaw will now be drafted and presented to the CSC for the Sept. 11 meeting.
