Guelph-Eramosa Township will now allow up to three dogs per household and has extended the penalty-free period to purchase dog tags to April 30.
When Guelph-Eramosa hired the Guelph Humane Society in July of this year to provide animal control, the township reviewed its current bylaw, township clerk Meaghen Reid said at the Dec. 5 council meeting.
“This has been on our radar for a while and when Guelph Humane Society came on board it was an opportunity for us to really speak with them, get their expertise, work with our enforcement staff in terms of reviewing and making sure that our bylaw had everything in there,” she explained.
She added set fines and short form wording have been revised to make it easier for enforcement staff to ticket based on the bylaw.
Key changes in the new bylaw include:
– care of dog requirements including sanitary environment, food, health, tethering and dogs in cars;
– dog tags purchased before April 30 will be penalty free (the previous deadline was March 31) to match Centre Wellington Township, which also uses the Guelph Humane Society;
– three dogs are permitted per household rather than two;
– revised wording has been included about nuisance barking to better assist enforcement;
– enforcement provisions for dealing with dangerous dogs have been revised; and
– provisions for designated dog parks have been included in the event the township creates one.
