4- North Shore News — Wednesday, June 14, 2000 | WY pet bylaw will have Three-dog walking limit proposed Deana Lancaster News Reporter dlancaster@nsnews.com U.S. lawyer William Kunstler once ‘said that a dog is “a liberal. He wants to please everyone.” , The truth is, he rarely does. An exuberant » Personality, total oblivion to human re and the unfortunate habit of leaving excrement around are not qualities likely ta make one popular with the masses. _ . There is now a troubled peace between those with dogs and those without in parks throughout the Lower Mainland. To help pre- vent the debate from sliding into a battle, West Vancouver District is one municipaliry taking steps to tighten restrictions on animal owner- ship and care. At its June 5 meeting, council tabled a motion for a second reading of a new “|. animal control bylaw until June 19. The delay ~ will give the public an opportunity to review it. - Rob Metcalfe, West Vancouver business ‘licence and bylaw inspector, said the Animal Control and Licence Bylaw would be a clarified and updated ‘consolidation of two existing bylaws that regulate dog ownership, licensing ‘and cares and animal contro! and licensing. Amon, ’ allows enforcement officers to ticket dog own- ers who violate regulations, such as aliowing :, their animals to run at large or off-leash in a prohibited park, for failing to pick up after their dogs, for letting them bark continuously, for other new additions, the bylaw , having a dangerous dog. or for having an unlicenced or “untagged dog. The bylaw also places lim- its on the sumbers of various animals that may be kept by an owner, including two as the maximum number of dogs. Jt also sets a limit of three for the number of dogs which may be walked by one person in a public place, including municipal streets and parks. A new list of parks designated as off leash/under control, on- leash oor prohibited — is attached to the bylaw. But though district staff and council feel the bylaw is mainly for clarification, those who will be affected by it think it goes too far. “A three-dog limit is pretty ridiculous. Where did they come up with thar figure?” asked Mark Tincombe, a West Vancouver resi- dent who owns Walkics, a professional dog- walking business. The conflict that. crupted last summer when a jogger complained about him to council contributed to the introduction of the new bylaw. Tincombe said he walks any- where from cight to 10 dogs at a time, and it wouldn’t makc fiscal sense for him to walk only three dogs at once. Since the controversy, he’s moved onto trails in the mountains where he [V bureaucracy tuned Deana Lancaster: . day. a improve communication; News Reporter dlancastur@nsnews.com LIKE a giant brain- teaser, ‘West Vancouver trict hall is being taken apart and put. back together again in ew. configuration. hose working on the ansformation. hope — that . hen it’s all done, the munic- pality will be more: efficient d ‘provide better service to ts residents. : ‘We're getting stuff done, ou’re: net seeing it yet, but. there’s a tremendous amount ~ going on behind the scenes,” said Coun. John Clark yester- sit a local branch: Sth and Marine Dr, West Vancouver, berton in Pemberton dene 82 ht A Fembertoy ay poh se fees e, 4 “The whole thing is start- ing to bubble and it’s great.” Municipal manager David Stuart gave a presentation on the corporate ‘realignment at Monday night? meeting. He said objectives of the realignment arc to:: @ improve service delivery; . & streamline reporting struc- ture; ai improve reamwork; council: @ strengthen project and - land management; B raise the profile of environ- ment and tourism. To meet those objectives, the municipality’s depare- ments have been reorganized. None have been spared. For example..Parks and Recreation has become Parks, which now includes care of See IT page S Fi 21 pt. Safety check, 15 minutes - FAST? “acs: Includes up to 5 litres of 10w30 Unccal Oil iver Oe Marine Drive 980-9115 Mon-Sat 8:00am-6:00prn, Sun. 9:00am-5:00pm_- Expines; June 21/2000 j encounters few other people. But according to Metcalfe, even there, Tincombe will have to abide by the new rules. “It could very well affect him,” he said, but added that it isn’t the municipality’s intention to put people out of business. ft isn’t only professional dog-walkers who are leery of the proposed bylaw. “I have to tell you, it makes me jittery,” said Graham Knell, trail and habitat coordinator in North Vanco District. He said he is con- cerned that West Van’s professional dog-walk- KEWS fle photo ke Wakefield WALKIES, a professional dog-walking business owned by Mark Tincombe, will likely be affect- ed by West Vancouver's proposed Animal Control and Licence Byiaw. ers may simply bring their business east. “We noticed as Vancouver and Burnaby dghtened. up their restrictions we were affected.” He said the district is also fooking at revamping its animal bylaws but will try to find ways to work with the dog walkers, such as having them register with the municipality. “You have ‘0. be proactive s- they’re not . oing to si isappear.” Krell said the district i is also focusing un installing clear signage in parks and on educat- ing trail users on trail etiquette. ‘Bay City Insurance Services Lid. Next to the liquor store (inside) at Iynn Valley Centre 2 , * Auto | * Business * Home ; * Tenants We want to be your insurance brokerl! 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