For a split second, people living in West Nipissing triplexes, townhouses and apartment buildings almost saw the limit of dogs and cats cut in half.
Councillor Lisa Senecal was chairing the vote Tuesday night on a new bylaw setting out restrictions for pet ownership in the municipality.
Staff started doing the homework on the file last year when a new resident to Sturgeon Falls asked for an increase to allow four cats. In reaction, the West Nipissing Non-profit Housing Corporation warned council that allowing more pets would cause more headaches and costs for landlords. The mess left by tenants with pets was already pushing their budgets into the red.
At the time, the separate dog and cat licencing bylaws allowed two of each. Staff saw a need to combine it into one comprehensive bylaw while updating the rules to reflect provincial definitions of service pets and dangerous breeds.
Councillors agreed to let people in single, detached homes (R1 zones) have three cats and three dogs while keeping the limit for duplex residents (R2) status quo at two-and-two.
Senecal then asked for a show of hands on reducing the limit to one cat and one dog for those in R3 zones (three to eight units) and R4 (eight units or more). Councillors Dan Roveda, Leo Malette, Yvon Duhaime and Mayor Joanne Savage were in agreement and Senecal added the fifth vote, giving it majority support.
Ever since Jeremy Seguin resigned from his Ward 7 Verner seat, council votes have often tied 4-4 and split between factions: Savage and councillors Duhaime, Senecal and Denis Senecal want a byelection while councillors Roveda, Malette, Chris Fisher and Roland Larabie prefer appointment.
Reducing the limits to one dog and one cat for those living in denser zones was a brief and rare example of cross-camp agreement.
But Counsellor Lise Senecal moved on to the next option for those zones, asking for a show of hands on keeping it status quo with two dogs and two cats allowed, which also passed by her deciding vote.
Mayor Savage mentioned the discrepancy but Senecal stood firm, possibly saving council the onerous task of telling the affected residents they would have to get rid of existing pets to be lawful.
Council then moved on to raise the limits to five dogs and five cats for those living outside the urban centres and in rural zones. Shoreline and mobile home zones were given the three-and-three limit.
Councillor Fisher said the current limits make “rural residents criminals,” referring to how the two-and-two rule has not been enforced and commonly ignored. Fisher was the one to suggest leaving the urban limit at two-and-two while giving rural residents the option of having five dogs and five cats.
Councillor Denis Senecal, who admitted having three dogs himself, was among those who supported different rules for those in less-dense areas such as Lavigne where he lives.
Bylaws from a variety of municipalities, cities and towns that take multiple approaches were included in the report to council. Sudbury, for example, doesn’t limit how many neutered animals someone can have but permits only two unaltered dogs and two unaltered cats. Temiskaming Shores allows up to five dogs and five cats while Elliot Lake limits it to three of each. The report states North Bay and Espanola don’t specify limits. In Sault Ste. Marie, residents can own three dogs and five cats. Mattawa doesn’t even have a cat bylaw, just a ‘Keeping of Dogs Bylaw’ with no specified limit.
Mayor Savage suggested the compromise to allow residents in the urban area with R1, 2 or 3 zoning the option of having a total of four pets regardless of species (three dogs, one cat or four dogs, etc.). She said there are people she knows who have three Shih Tzus, for example, and they are technically in contravention.
But the opposition argued that four cats in an apartment would be asking for double the trouble when it came to cleaning up the mess and smell after they move. Only those in singe-detached homes got the bump to three of each.
Mayor Savage also raised the issue about enforcement of the licencing, noting that she wasn’t even sure where someone gets a licence.
“I don’t think we are capturing a lot of licences from owners of dogs and cats,” she said, “It doesn’t seem we have an active presence.”
Council was told that the North Bay and District Humane Society sells West Nipissing pet licences when people come to claim dogs and cats. Licences are also sold at the municipal office. The $20 cost per dog remained the same in the new bylaw but the $4 discounted cost for neutered and micro-chipped cats and dogs went to $10. Cat licences still cost $30 with a $10 discount for those vaccinated for rabies.
The exemption on limits was kept for livestock guard dogs.
Dave Dale is a Local Journalism Reporter with BayToday.ca. LJI is funded by the Government of Canada.
