New Iqaluit bylaw would take a bite out of scofflaw dog owners

Atchie Qutaiguq of Iqaluit told Iqaluit City Council that he wants them do something about aggressive dogs. (PHOTO BY STEVE DUCHARME)

Iqaluit city council heard demands from an Iqaluit resident for more action in preventing violent dog attacks, following a review of their new “Responsible Pet Owners Bylaw” Sept 22.

Atchie Qutaiguq told Mayor Mary Wilman and city councilors that he fears for the safety of his family even after repeated notifications to bylaw about aggressive neighbouring dogs.

“The dog owners sometimes don’t seem to care at all. The only time they pretend to do something is when something bad happens,” Qutaiguq told city council.

Qutaiguq said he worries about his young daughter, who has to walk on her way to school past a home where the dogs live.

Kevin Sloboda, Iqaluit’s chief municipal enforcement officer, believes that more specific definitions for owning a pet, as well as increased fines, written into the new animal control bylaw will give enforcement officers the tools they need to dissuade owners from letting their pets run amok.

“We’re going to make you responsible for your dog, and if you’re not going to be responsible for your dog, then decisions will be put into place to remove the dogs or so that you don’t have them,” Sloboda said.

Under the new bylaw, owners of dogs that attack or bite a person are subject to a minimum of a $1,000 fine.

Owners caught without a dog license or with their dogs off leash on public property will suffer minimum $100 fines.

Municipal enforcement officers will also have the right to impound any dog they deem to be “at large” or a danger to the public.

To get animals back, owners will have to pay a $75 fee to the city, along with any fines.

The “Responsible Pet Owner Bylaw” has come before city council several times during its current mandate — only to be sent back for revisions.

This time, everything seems set to do the final reading of the bylaw at the next Iqaluit City Council meeting.

Qutaiguq hopes the new law, in its final form, will address the concerns of his family, but he believes no real change can be made until the culture of irresponsible pet ownership is changed in Iqaluit.

“I understand their job is frustrating [municipal enforcement officers] but it starts with the dog owner, then if it doesn’t stop there, it becomes a community issue and then a city issue,” he said.

Voters will elect a mayor and eight city councilors in the municipal election scheduled Oct. 19.