BARRHEAD - County of Barrhead residents living in an Agricultural District can now have four dogs, up from one in the now rescinded dog-control bylaw.
That is one of the changes a new animal control bylaw will make possible.
Councillors unanimously approved the bylaw in three readings during their July 13 meeting.
The other notable change in the bylaw is that residents of specific residential areas outside an agricultural district can have chickens.
County manager Debbie Oyarzun said the bylaw is new to the municipality.
"We did have a dog control bylaw, but we decided that we needed to have a new bylaw, other than amending the [old dog bylaw] as we wanted to prohibit wild boar and allow the keeping of chickens, so we decided to roll it all into one bylaw," she said.
Oyarun noted that the bylaw's prohibition on keeping wild boars resulted from discussions and subsequent recommendations from the county's Agricultural Services Board (ASB).
County peace officer Shae Guy said they transferred most definitions from the old Animal Control or other bylaws. However, they did have to update the language or, in rare cases, add definitions.
Examples of definitions from other bylaws include agricultural and non-agricultural Districts taken from the land-use bylaw.
He also said they reviewed similar bylaws of several other municipalities as a template or guide.
Prohibited animal list
In the draft bylaw, Guy said that only wild boars are listed as prohibited animals in the county, but if the council wished to add species in the future, they could do so by simply amending the banned list and not opening up the entire bylaw.
In Alberta, wild boars are allowed for livestock in certain situations, but the moment they escape or are released, Oyarzun said, they fall under the province's Agricultural Pests Act.
Reeve Doug Drozd asked Guy if there had been any discussion from the ASB or at the committee of the whole (COW) about adding "hybrid pigs."
Guy replied they had, but the committee kept the prohibited limit list as wild boars.
"We did some research on what other municipalities have done, and from what we can see, no one has addressed that," he said. "It might be because no one knows the impact of mixed breeds and how [wild boars] might interact with them and change their behaviour."
Coun. Walter Preugschas suggested amending the bylaw to add wild boar hybrids to the list and made a motion as such, saying the hog industry was also concerned about the impact the wild boars and their hybrids could have on the industry.
"Alberta Pork really wants provincial legislation to prohibit wild boar and any of its hybrids," he said.
Dogs
Under the animal control limit, there are four dogs per property in an agricultural district and two in non-agricultural districts.
The limit only applies to dogs over six months of age. It also excludes those with a valid development permit through the land-use bylaw, which allows them to have additional animals, such as those operating a small breeding facility.
The limit for agricultural districts is an increase of one. For those living in non-agricultural zones, there is no change.
Guy said that the creation of the new bylaw addressed several issues that had yet to be addressed, such as providing options for the council to designate future off-leash areas, controlled confinement or quarantine of dogs with rabies; not having proper control and dogs at large; nuisance and threatening behaviour; prohibiting dog owners from using their animals to attack or threaten individuals or animals; transporting dogs, the procedure for declaring a dog vicious, transporting dogs outside of vehicles in a way to ensure they cannot get out of a moving vehicle.
Reeve Doug Drozd interjected, saying he believed legislation was already in place regarding dogs riding in the back of a pickup truck.
Guy agreed.
The Animal Protection Act regulations state that when transporting animals in the back of a pickup truck, the truck's box must be high enough and strong enough to keep the animal contained and protected at all times. The owner must also secure the animal so it cannot jump out of the vehicle or be dragged. The act also states that the animal must be protected from the elements, including injurious heat or cold.
"It is a $600 ticket, so we've added this to have a lower, more reasonable fine, and it covers it more specifically," Guy said. "Under the provincial legislation, you can interpret it somewhat as the dog being cargo."
Chickens
People living on a property in a non-agricultural district at least two acres with a residential dwelling may now have up to 10 chickens.
It should be emphasized that the bylaw does not impact residents of an agricultural district where the number of chickens a resident can have is not limited.
Guy said that initially, the bylaw committee had discussed allowing up to 15 chickens with no lot size limitation.
However, he said the municipality received several complaints through the public consultation process on the land-use bylaw.
"People were concerned about people having chickens in those high-density areas, like Lac La Nonne and Thunder Lake, so this is where we landed," Guy said.
Drozd asked if the Town of Barrhead had a chicken bylaw, saying it should be similar for consistency.
In January, town councillors opted not to proceed with a chicken bylaw following a survey to which 451 responded, with 55 per cent saying they were in favour of allowing residents to have chickens.
Deputy reeve Marvin Schatz added if council opted to allow chickens on smaller lots, they would have to reduce the number to four or five.
Guy agreed, adding if they did opt to allow chickens in high-density areas, they would likely need to introduce permits, as those residents would need to obtain a Premises Identification (PID) number from the province.
Alberta established the PID program in 2009 to control and prevent the spread of animal diseases.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
