Regina residents want updates to animal bylaw after dog attacks

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Angela McLean’s son was attacked by a dog running loose in their Rosemont neighbourhood last year.

“He was seven at the time and the dog pinned him against a truck and was biting his ankles,” McLean told the Leader-Post. “And now, my children are afraid to play in their own yard. They’re afraid to go outside.”

It was an extreme escalation to a problem she says she and many others on her crescent have been having for several years, with a neighbour’s dogs chronically escaping from their property.

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Kwasi Adu also says he feels anxious outside when passing leashed dogs on the street after he was bitten multiple times by a loose dog while waiting at a downtown bus stop last year.

“It just was mauling me, all over the place, and I was struggling and had nobody to help me,” he said. “It was traumatizing. If it had been a minor, they would have sustained some serious damage, or maybe even died.”

Both McLean’s son and Adu say that the city’s bylaws to enforce consequences after such attacks are too lax and in the interest of public safety, need to be changed.

“City hall, the Humane Society and police are all trying to address things, but there’s nothing they can do when they’re hampered by no bylaws,” said McLean.

Desire to examine Regina’s bylaw

Coun. Shanon Zachidniak (Ward 8) says McLean and Adu are among several residents who have raised the issue to her. She’s bringing it to city council Wednesday.

She’s crafted a motion asking administration to review the city’s Animal Bylaw and consider how it can be updated to better protect both residents and animals.

“If our bylaws can’t keep residents safe, then honestly, what’s the point of them?” said Zachidniak. “Knowing our bylaw isn’t functioning properly, I think we need to address that as quickly as we can.”

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The intent is to modernize Regina’s Animal Bylaw, which hasn’t had a significant update since 2011, without overs-stepping into provincial jurisdiction regulating animal welfare, said Zachidniak.

She said she wants to take a “comprehensive look” at regulations regarding all animals — though the recent number of incidents with aggressive or at-large dogs in the city does raise alarm.

There have been at least two dog attacks in Regina this year that resulted in police laying charges and animals being seized. However, not all encounters, including the ones each McLean’s son and Adu had, have that outcome.

The dogs involved in those attacks were not seized nor were the owners penalized, McLean and Adu said.

McLean said the dog that bit her son still lives in her neighbourhood and its owner has not been required to fence the yard or tether the animal and that bylaw officers don’t have the power to enforce that.

She said she’s been told bylaw officers don’t have the power to enforce that and can only impose fines, which range from $100 to $300, and return a dog to it’s owners when its at-large — even in her situation and when other neighbours on her crescent have also been attacked by the same dog as her son.

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“It’s not safe for the dogs and it’s not safe for the community,”  McLean said. “It was predictable and preventable, but it still happened and it’s going to happen again if nothing is done.”

‘Like a horror movie’

When Adu was attacked downtown, he was knocked down and hit his head. He has since been diagnosed with occipital neuralgia, a rare migraine disorder. He believes injuries he incurred when he fell could be the cause.

“Once in a while, it pops up to me again, like a horror movie,” he said. “And I’m thinking, it happened to me today — might be somebody else the next day.”

He wants to see both more prevention and more enforcement.

The existing bylaw does include a list of restrictions for animals deemed “dangerous” by a judge in a court hearing, including not being allowed in dog parks and requirements for muzzling in public.

Zachidniak said one thing Regina could do is introduce a temporary distinction that could be applied while court hearings are in process, to protect both the public and the animals the interim.

She also pointed to a 2022 update of Winnipeg’s bylaws for examples of actions that could be taken. Winnipeg added restrictions to how long a dog could be kept outside in extreme weather or without supervision.

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“If we’re not properly taking care of animals, that will have a very negative impact on our residents,” she said. “I’m passionate about both. I want our residents to be safe and I want our animals to be safe.”

lkurz@postmedia.com

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