The bylaw enforcement monthly report for July 2017 that was presented to the District of Houston council at the Aug. 25, 2017 council meeting, and according to the report there were five complaints regarding dogs.
One of the five complaints and contraventions was a request for information about number of dogs permitted in town. Two of the complaints were in regards to dogs barking, to which letters were sent to the owner. One complaint was in regards to a neglected dog to which district staff issued a letter to the owner and also had a phone conversation with them. The fifth complaint regarded a dangerous dog. No information as to what classified this dog as dangerous was released, but a letter was sent to the owner and the owner was visited by district staff at their property.
Since January 2017, bylaw enforcement reports for the District of Houston have recorded 33 cases of complaints involving dogs. Around an average of four complaints per month regarding dogs are received.
In the past eight months, one concerned resident addressed Houston council during a public input opportunity, expressing her concern about the dogs roaming around in Houston and the unsafety she felt to take her pets and her children out for walks around the block of her residence.
In May 2017 at the council meeting, Belinda Brosseau said, ““Having the pleasure to walk around the neighbourhood with my two young children, without being chased by dogs, and also going out in my backyard without having to clean up other people’s dog poo, before I take my children out there so they don’t step and play in it, is my concern.”
In July 2017 another Houston resident contacted Houston Today expressing their concerns about dangerous roaming dogs in Houston.
The Houston resident said, “Everyday I have other people’s dogs sitting in my yard. I can’t walk my little dog because there are other unleashed and aggressive dogs roaming our street.”
The same month counsellor John Siebenga said at the council meeting, “I had someone come to me and say we have bylaw complaints, and we have a bylaw officer, but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of teeth in the bylaw and contravention followups, and was wondering what is being done about that?”
Michael Glavin, Chief Administrative Officer for the District of Houston replied, “There is a process that we have to follow, we can’t seize dogs….unless it is a dangerous dog.”
Glavin explained that the bylaw officer and the district have to do their due diligence and follow their procedure of issuing three written letters to the owner before further action can occur.
When counsellor Tim Anderson asked at the July meeting how many tickets have been issued for dog complaints, bylaw officer Jim Daigneault replied, “We have given two tickets to one owner in town so far.”
Houston council accepted the report for information.