Bylaw enforcement officer Tim Lewis delivered a presentation to council about legal and illegal dog kennels in Minto.
“I don’t know how much as councillors you hear about this issue … about dog kennels.”
At the office, a complaint is called in alleging there is an illegal kennel somewhere in the township. The person states the matter should be looked into.
“The problem is that it comes down to legalities. How do you go in somewhere, how do you go there if this person (lodging the concern) calling in will not put it down on paper and does not come forward to help us out with it?”
He said there also seems to be that bit of a cliquish thing among people who operate kennels.
“Sometimes they point fingers at each other for whatever reason. But still, you can’t get anyone to put anything onto paper. We’ve heard these rumblings about illegal kennels, and we wanted to make you aware of it. Until you get somebody to come forward in writing and say this is the place and this is what is going on (council’s options are limited).”
He said there needs to be a complaint lodget in writing before much can be done.
However, Lewis said kennels the municipality is aware of have been licenced this year.
He added that letters are going to be sent to kennel operators, advising them that the protocols will be changed in regard to handling dog kennels.
He explained the current bylaw already includes a number of things the town can do.
Those include that during regular business hours the town has the right to inspect the kennels, the dogs, and the records. The records will indicate if things are being done properly.
The notice to be sent includes notification that officials will be coming around more than once a year in addition to providing a list of what they will be looking for during the inspections.
“We just want to step it up a bit to deter any illegal activity,” Lewis said.
He was not asking for changes; those rules already exist in the town’s bylaw.
