Attacks, aggressive dog incidents down

UPDATED: 2007-03-18 14:32:23 MST

Bylaw boss credits new rules, owner awareness

By NADIA MOHARIB, SUN MEDIA

The number of aggressive dog incidents in the city is down with officials crediting beefed up bylaws for the decline.  The rate of aggression cases between dogs dropped by 56%, from 162 to 72 between 2005 and last year, bylaw boss Bill Bruce told the Sun.  Biting incidents are also down by 21% to 199, he added.  “It wasn’t all about cats,” he said referring to the city’s highly publicized introduction of a cat bylaw.  “We did a lot to change our bylaws.”  He said stiff fines for offences combined with increased education likely led to the good news.  Owners can face fines of $350 if their dogs bite someone and $750 if that person needs medical attention. 

 An attack can mean a fine of $1,500.  Being blamed for a dog on dog attack sees an owner stuck with a $250 fine.  “You, as a pet owner are 100 percent responsible,” Bruce said.  “It’s not controlling pets, it’s about holding people responsible for their pets.”  In the city of Calgary all cats and dogs three months of age and older must have a licence.  The penalty for not licensing a cat or dog is $250.00. A animal licence enables Animal Services to return a missing cat or dog as soon as possible to an owner.  According to the latest city census there are 92,563 dogs in Calgary up from 83,475 in 1998. 

The 2001 census showed there were about 90,000 cats, up by nearly 50% from the previous polling of Calgarians. 

http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2007/03/18/3776727.html