In this month’s blog we are covering new pet bylaws recently instated in Nanaimo. For all our pet lovers out there, these bylaws were recommended by the SPCA, Animal Control, CatNap Society (Cats Needing Aid and Protection), and other community organizations to further ensure animal safety and wellbeing in the city.
As of September 21st, the Animal Responsibility Bylaw includes the following updates (and more):
- All outdoor cats are required to be spayed or neutered.
- Mandatory identification for cats (microchip, traceable tattoo, tag with owner’s valid contact info).
- Changing “Vicious Dog” to “Aggressive Dog”. -Modernizing sections to reflect current practices on standards of care.
- Prohibiting cats from running at large in a public place or on another person’s property, unless it is under the immediate charge and control of the owner or other person responsible for the animal.
- Removing reference to “Restricted Dogs” since it is no longer best practice (and not practicable) to target; *Restricted Dogs previously referred to (a) a Pit Bull Terrier, an American Pit Bull Terrier, a Pit Bull, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier or an American Staffordshire Terrier; or (b) a dog of mixed breeding which breeding includes the bloodline of the breeds referred to in (a).
CatNap, a Nanaimo cat rescue agency, as well as Nanaimo Animal Control Services, released public statements supporting these changes and described reasons for their importance.
CatNap Society (Cats Needing Aid and Protection)
“The fact that there [was] no spay/neuter or permanent identification bylaws for free-roaming cats in our city, are the sole reasons why our animal rescue exists. We have been trying to address that problem in our city since our inception in 1998, by getting all of our rescued cats spayed/neutered to help prevent unwanted future litters and advocating for a spay/neuter bylaw [. . .] If our community and its citizens could personally witness our front-line rescue efforts and thereby understand what happens when unspayed/unneutered cats are left free to roam, breed and fend for themselves, they wouldn’t hesitate to support the revised animal control bylaws for cats.”
Carley Colclough, Pound, and Adoption Coordinator for Nanaimo Animal Control Services
“Municipalities without bylaws in place to address animal issues can also become known as a “safe haven” for people who neglect and abuse animals.”
So, to keep our beloved pets and communities protected, please follow the updated city bylaws.
Full bylaws and sources are below: