The Town of Westlock's Responsible Pet Ownership Bylaw has been delayed for the third time this year at the most recent town council meeting on June 23.
The bylaw was originally brought before council as a cat control bylaw by community peace officer Kim Wood in November 2024 and expanded to be a larger pet control bylaw following feedback from the community. The bylaw was first delayed at the Feb. 10 council meeting following enforcement concerns and delayed again at the May 20 meeting following much debate surrounding a registry system for pets in the area.
Concerns with the bylaw persist among several councillors with the primary concerns being the prohibition of bee ownership, number of pets per household and high fines for bylaw infringement.
A prohibition on bee ownership was introduced in the bylaw due to trends towards urban beekeeping in the greater Edmonton area. Coun. Murtaza Jamaly and mayor Jon Kramer advised the removal of the bee ownership prohibition as there had been no specific instances of urban beekeeping in the Westlock community.
“I really think that urban beekeeping has become incredibly popular and there are lots of resources out there to do it as safely as possible,” said Jamaly. “I think that bees should not be included (in the bylaw).”
“I'd like to see bees nixed and a future Council can go there,” said Kramer. “If we end up in a situation where somebody ends up having a couple hives and we need an urban beekeeping bylaw, then we go down that route. That's my gut feeling, but they're more of a wild animal that people are harbouring, as opposed to snakes or reptiles.”
The bylaw also prohibits the owning of livestock and poisonous snakes, reptiles or insects within town limits.
Section 4.14 of the bylaw states that no person in the town can keep or harbour more than two dogs and four cats of whatever sex and age.
Coun. David Truckey proposed changing this to allow for four dogs and four cats in the name of consistency. This proposal received pushback from several councillors.
“Having had some experience with more than two dogs in a house at one point my life, there's a big difference between two dogs and three dogs,” said Coun. Curtis Snell. “It's things like noise and whatnot so I think two seems to be a reasonable number for me.”
“It doesn't matter if you put it as any number. It's totally complaint driven,” said Jamaly.
There was also some debate surrounding the large fines people would have to pay for bylaw infringements. These included a $250 fine on opening a gate, fence, or enclosure allowing an animal to escape and a $2,000 fine for a dog attacking and injuring a person, animal, or domestic animal.
“For fines I don't issue them lightly. We try to approach a situation if we can with education first,” said Wood. “These higher amounts are used to deter the behaviour. It doesn't necessarily mean that they're going to pay that $2,000 because they can cooperate with our bylaw prosecutor and if they're coming to an agreement with how to keep their pet, then our prosecutor can come up with a deal in court.
"A justice has the ability to set any fine. It allows for a court process to decide what’s the best consequence.”
The bylaw is set for more review as council seeks input from Westlock community members and will be set for another round of discussion at the July 14 council meeting.
