Westlock town council passed its long-delayed responsible pet ownership bylaw at the most recent council meeting on July 14.
The bylaw was delayed three times at various council meetings with the original proposal brought forth in November 2024 as a cat control bylaw and eventually being expanded to a larger pet control bylaw.
One of the main reason the bylaw was proposed was due to roaming cats in the community defecating and causing property damage. The bylaw allows complaints to be documented and filed with the community peace officer who can follow up with cat owners.
Some of the changes made to the bylaw from feedback in the last meeting included several minor adjustments including changing the language from “dog” to “animal” in several sections to include bylaw provisions for all animals, removing bees from the list of prohibited animals, referencing the newly-amended Land Use Bylaw under a possibly approved pet care service, veterinary clinic, or kennel and a reduction of the fine for a dog attacking a person, animal, or domestic animal from $2,000 to $1,500.
Council emphasized that the bylaw is not only for enforcement, but also education and awareness for pet owners.
“I know in the weeks that we've been working through this, we've gone about this one slowly,” said mayor Jon Kramer. “I don't think it's out of hesitation but I think it's out of a desire just to be thorough, communicate with residents, communicate with each other, and think things through.”
There was some debate in the council meeting on June 23 surrounding section 4.14 which prohibits anyone in the town harbouring more than two dogs and four cats at the same time in any house in order to address concerns surrounding animal hoarders in the community.
“How would anyone know that you have six or seven cats in your house? It's one of those things that will be complaint based and we will use discretion when we apply the bylaw,” said director of community services Gerry Murphy.
There was some discussion surrounding the education of the component of the bylaw.
Coun. Laura Morie proposed an education campaign on spraying and neutering cats.
“You've seen kittens given away on the internet all the time, but the majority of kittens just don't make it,” said Morie. “The city of Edmonton’s cat control in 2017 cost them $1.7 million and they have partnerships, so we have to depend on responsible pet ownership.”
Coun. Murtaza Jamaly proposed a further report following bylaw’s passing to determine how much time and energy needs to be spent on enforcement.
“We’re definitely a little bit concerned about what this could look like having not done any cat enforcement in the past with how much time we’ll be spending on it, but our reporting system can easily filter those reports,” said Town CAO Simone Wiley.
