New Animal Care and Control Bylaw passed

By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on January 22, 2025.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

Lethbridge has a new Animal Care and Control Bylaw after city council gave its blessing on Tuesday.

Council gave second and third reading to by bylaw 6475.

This new bylaw has several changes to previous city regulations and includes several matters relating to cats including restricting the number allowed in one household to six.

As council had already heard from Regulatory Services manager Duane Ens, there will be no efforts to remove a seventh cat from households with the intent being to achieve the maximum naturally. A cat licencing program is not being considered in part due to lack of compliance in other communities.

A cat licensing program would require $168,600 to $300,000 annually depending on the level of service, “with only a portion of these expenses offset by the revenue generated from cat licensing fees. Given this insight, we believe mandatory cat licensing is not the most effective approach for our mid-size city, stated a report submitted to the Social and Safety Standing Policy Committee in November by Ens.

Ens told council on Tuesday the new bylaw combines three old bylaws into one area. He said a pigeon bylaw was going to be discarded until the City learned a small pigeon organization is still active here.

A cat and dog micro-chipping program is also to launch this year, providing a low-cost service to the public. This program is targeted mainly at cats to reunite owners with their lost animals and keep them out of the shelter.

The Safety and Social Standing Policy Committee of city council recommended at its meeting on Nov. 21 that council give final readings to the bylaw.

The existing dog bylaw was two decades old and Ens’ report stated updates were needed to “better reflect current practices, public needs and to address various housekeeping needs.”

The City’s pigeon bylaw has been unchanged since 1965 and the Wild or Domestic Animals Bylaw was last amended in 1983.

The City has formulated the establishment of an urban hen program and recently established non-profit organization referred to as the Citizens of Lethbridge Urban Hen Chicken Club (CLUCC) is drafting a proposal outlining program details.

The new bylaw also increases the number of pet rabbits allowed in a household from one to two. It also restricts those people involved with pigeons to fly no more than 30 birds.

And it also restricts owners from leaving animals unattended in vehicles during extreme temperatures and requires them to properly restrain their animals in motor vehicles.

Ens told council the bylaw contains for provisions for increased fines up to $500 for certain behaviours it wants to see reduced,

The bylaw also contains provisions for written orders to be given animal owners which will allow them to be taken to court if necessary.

Councillor John Middleton-Hope expressed concern that while dogs are required to be kept on leash or on private property cats are allowed to roam free to defecate in other peoples’ yards. He also asked Ens how many birds are killed by dogs compared to the numbers killed by cats.

Ens noted there are provisions in the bylaw to address cat defecation and told Middleton-Hope dogs are seen as posing more of a potential threat than cats hence different regulations regarding the two species.

Council heard there are about 80 to 100 reports of dog bites every year in Lethbridge.