City restricts Liam Lairey Contributing Writer NORTH Vancouver City council voied 4-2 Monday night in favour of a bylaw that pro- hibits the sale of reptiles and amphibians by new pet retailers within city limits. Established Nerth Vancouver pet retailers such ay Pet Cetera are not affected by the new bylaw, The issue was debated at city hallon Monday night in a public meeting “We are Strongly opposed to the bvhuw; we see no necd for it to go ahead,” said Paul MeGraili, director ofthe Per Industry Joint Advisory Council (PITACH and a pet sup: plies wholesaler. “Reptifes and amphibians pose no risk to public health and safery ... personal dislikes are the main reasons bebind this (bylaw ). It’s prejudicial and a vielition of our consti tutional rights.” North Vancouver’s Gail Waten, founder of the West Coast Society for the Protection and Conservation of Reptiles, told council there is plenty of educanonat mute rial available to che public on haw to care for exotic ani mals -- a major council concern. “A penon would have co be a complete imbecile not to find information on the proper care of reptiles and amphibians,” Watson said. “T found 123 books and magazines at the Lynn Valley Library alone (on the stubject).” Watson, who owns and cares tor snakes, argued that domestically bred exotic animals live fonger than animals in the wild and that keeping them was in the best interest of the animal. “Many people love to boast of dhe number of wild snakes they've killed, that’s the kind of mentality snakes in the wild are faced with,” he told council. “My 15-vear-old snake wasn’t caught and held captive, he was hatched in. my home as were his parents ... this bylaw will do nothing (co stop) the alleged abuse of reptiles.” But other animal enthusiasts spoke in favour of the byl Said Glenis Stuart of the Vancouver Humane Society, “The current laws are inadequate to protect these animals, The SPCA supports a ban on the sale of reptiles and amphibians, “Breeding (exotic animals) should be carried out by protes- sionals in a handful of zoos located throughout the world.” Some members of the gallery argued that the only way to truly learn about these creatures was through wial and error, as did North Vancouver resident and tormer pet store owner Mike Dunlop. “Forty years ago we (society) didn’t know salmon couldn't live ina stream: we poured paint into; call us stupid but we didn’t know that,” he said to council. “The best place to learn about these animals is through a pet store. We don't learn about fish by watching them through a tank, we learn about them by feeding them. “Ics trne we tend to put our personality on our pets; it’s a problem, but that’s how we learn about them ... it’s our right (to own animals) as human beings because of the damage (to the environment) that we do.” Acknowledging both sides presented excellent arguments, as did many other speakers in previous debates, council opted to rept NEWS photo Mike Waketieto THE sale of this Bearded Dragon Lizard and other reptiles will be prohibited in new North Van pet stores. pass the bylaa, Coun. Barbara Sharp said that in doing so North Vancouver was making a small stand against the abuse of animals world- wide. “Who screwed up che world? It’s humans not animals. We have some remedying to do and this is a start’ it’s a small start,” she said. “Look at the people who make money off of this (the pet trade}, Pm not saying they don’t care about the animals, but money is a motivation ... it’s a sale, business is business. We don’t have the basic right to have whatever we want.” Coun, Stella Jo Dean admitted to agonizing over which way to vote on the isstic. “Pye done a great deal of soul-searching over this,” Dean said. “Times have really changed and so have attitudes over the years. We humans have been put on this earth to be stewards of these animals and the environment ... obviously, there’s no rela- tionship between a human and a snake, I'm quite convinced we're being proactive if we pass this bylaw.” Coun. Bob Fearnley and Coun. Darrell Mussatto voted against the bylaw. Coun. Jobn Braithwaite was absent. - Minibus service approved for W. Van FACTORY FUTON Entvance in fear lane provided that the vehicles being used have - Catherine Barr ‘Contributing Writer MINIBUS service is coming to West Vancouver. After months of discussion, West Vancouver council approved a bylaw on Monday that will allow minibus companies to apply for a muricipal operating licence. But the legislacon may only be tempo- rary and, according co politicians, will aliow minibus companies to get them- selves up and running in the interim. According to council, a new North Shore-wide minibus bylaw is currently being drafted for spring. It's designed to ——— help balanee the licensing process across the three municipalities. One of its ainys would be to restrict any possible trade in minibus licences and thereby eliminate the practice of accumulating cab licences that exists in the Vancouver taxi industry, Because licenees are transterable, and a limited number are issued, a Vancouver city taxi licence has become a valuable asset: worth upwards of $250,000. Meanwhile, the current West Vancouver “Vehicles for Hire” bylaw was updated to include “shared ride vehicles” and now states that: @ shared ride vans (or minibuses) cannot carry more than cight persons at a time; B yearly licence renewal will be granted not sustained any physical damage; @ licences are not transferable, even if the company is sald; @ starting Jan, 1, 2,000, vehicles older than seven years will not be allowed. Also included in the bylaw is a schedule of fees that cannot be amended without council approval. The schedule allows for a set of discounts depending on the size of a group travelling together. 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