ATHABASCA – Athabasca County is revisiting its planned animal control bylaw changes after working on it for nearly a year.
Some of the notable changes from the previous version include the removal of a section about cat control, live residential animal trapping, and some changes to overlimit permits.
The bylaw was presented to councillors at the May 20 committee of the whole meeting, and passed first reading at the May 29 meeting with a 7-0 vote. Councillors Natasha Kapitaniuk and Camille Wallach were away at a conference.
“Pets are basically family, and we want to make sure that we aren’t missing the mark with this,” said Travis Shalapay, the manager of protective services for the county.
Shalapay had last presented the bylaw during the April 16, 2024 committee of the whole meeting but the project was sent back for more work as the county worked to secure pound services for stray animals — an ongoing endeavour — and received input from a neighbouring municipality that was working on the same issue.
Certain changes were made for liability reasons; Shalapay said allowing residents to trap loose dogs and cats opened up legal concerns for the county, although live traps are still available for skunks, to the joy of council.
Others, like the removal of a section on cat control, were just more trouble than they were worth.
“In the previous version we were getting into the world of managing our feline friends, and that seemed to be a pitfall that we really didn’t want to get involved in,” said Shalapay.
Council questions
One of the questions the council had for Shalapay stemmed from a conversation in 2024 — in the proposed bylaw, there’s no carve-out for mushers, who can often have upwards of 25 canines on a property as they raise teams for dog-sledding.
“As someone who has lived beside one of those, it was very much noise-free, but when I think about those uses for dogs where you’re training them like that, it’s important to consider we have similar rules to what we have for kennels, where there needs to be some neighbourhood consultation,” said Coun. Brian Hall.
Another concern from councillors was the upcoming slate of over-limit permits they were anticipating. Under the proposed bylaw, no more than five dogs are allowed on properties 10 acres or above, which falls to a limit of three on smaller properties and two in county hamlets and subdivisions.
“I know folks out in my neck of the woods who may only have two or three working dogs, but then they have three or four lap dogs as well, which puts you over that limit,” said Shalapay.
Shalapay said the plan was to proceed with the permits instead of trying to legislate exemptions for agriculture like the planned bylaw does with kennels.
In response to a question from Coun. Joe Gerlach about enforcement, director of protective services Christa Wilkinson said the county wasn’t about to go looking for problems.
Another question was around at-large livestock, which aren’t included in the animal control bylaw. Shalapay said an upcoming traffic bylaw would cover the issue instead.
A public hearing on the bylaw has been scheduled for June 26.
