Fort Erie updates animal protection bylaws

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Published July 28, 2021 at 8:04 pm

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At their most recent Council Meeting, Fort Erie updated their current animal bylaws and animal control services.

As well as their own bylaw officers, the Town addressed who qualifies as an official Poundkeeper, whose services provide premises for the enclosure and safekeeping of any animal impounded and ensures that the premises are clean and in good condition.

Key changes that were made to create the new by-law include:

  • Consolidating all animal related bylaws into a single source document
  • Providing enhanced definitions
  • Providing new provisions for standards of care, animal noise, pens and enclosures, etc.
  • Refining current provisions for identification tags, licence appeals, muzzle orders, etc.
  • Mapping out enforcement and inspection powers for the administration of the bylaw
  • Ensuring that the bylaw had a neutral administrator, so that provisions could be contacted out to agency if possible

“With the introduction of the PAWS Act and its Animal Welfare Inspectors, animal cruelty investigations which were once performed by the OSPCA, are now the responsibility of the province. Updating the Town’s animal related By-laws are timely based on these recent legislative changes.” said Paul Chudoba, the Town’s Coordinator of Bylaw Enforcement.

Changes to the Town’s Animal Welfare, Protection and Control By-law were based on recommendations from Council and reviewed by Jennifer Friedman, who is a lawyer that specializes in animal rights and welfare, as well as veterinarian Dr. Anneliese Heinrich.

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