Dog By-law D-048-22

Yarmouth, Nova Scotia · adopted 2023-02-22

This is the exact embedded text of the captured official document. Snapshot d264df723b4a · verified 2026-06-05 · original document · archived snapshot · unofficial consolidation, the official version is held by the municipal clerk.

MUNICIPALITY OF THE DISTRICT OF YARMOUTH Dog By-law D-048-22 Effective Date: February 22, 2023 Page | 1 Dog By-Law D-048-22 Part 1 Purpose 1.1 The purpose of this By-law is to provide for the regulation, control, restriction, keeping and licensing of dogs in the Municipality of the District of Yarmouth. Part 2 Definitions In this By-Law: 2.1 "Canine Madness" means a form of rabid madness non-communicable to man; characterized by foaming at the mouth, impairment of deglutition, and a desire to vomit; 2.2 "CAO" means the Chief Administrative Officer of the Municipality of the District of Yarmouth; 2.3 "Destroy" means kill; 2.4 "Dog" means any dog, male or female, or any animal that is the result of the breeding of a dog with any other animal; 2.5 "Domestic Animal" includes pets and farm animals; 2.6 "Extraordinary Expense" means any expense incurred by Municipal Staff in relation to a dog except for provision of food and shelter; 2.7 "Fierce or Dangerous Dog" has the meaning stipulated in Section 5 of this By-law; 2.8 "Mitigating Factor" means a circumstance which excuses the aggressive behavior of a dog where: 2.8.1 the dog, at the time of the aggressive behavior, attacked or injured any trespasser on property occupied by its owner provided that the presence of the dog is clearly posted, or 2.8.2 the dog, immediately prior to the aggressive behavior, was being abused or tormented by the person attacked or injured; 2.9 "Municipal Staff" means the Municipality of the District of Yarmouth's Dog Control Officer or a person/organization appointed by the Chief Administrative Officer or Council to act on the Municipality's behalf for the purposes of this By-Law, and includes the Pound Keeper; MUNICIPALITY OF THE DISTRICT OF YARMOUTH Dog By-law D-048-22 Effective Date: February 22, 2023 Page | 2 Dog By-Law D-048-22 2.10 "Municipality" means the Municipality of the District of Yarmouth; 2.11 "Owner" means the owner of a dog and any person who possesses, has the care or control of, or harbors a dog and, where such a person is a minor, includes a parent, guardian or custodian of such a person; 2.12 "Wolf-Dog Hybrid" means any animal which results from the breeding of a dog and a wolf or that is or has been advertised or held out for sale as such; Part 3 Registration 3.1 Annually, on or before the 1st day of January the owner of any dog shall register such dog with the Municipal Staff and obtain from the Municipal Staff a tag for such dog; 3.2 every owner of a dog shall, within ten (10) days of having become owner, register such dog with Municipal Staff and obtain from Municipal Staff a tag for such dog; 3.3 in order to register a dog, an owner shall pay the annual registration fee as set out by Municipal Council in Fees Policy F-044-02. The owner of each dog shall supply Municipal Staff with the following: 3.3.1 name, civic address and telephone numbers of the owner; 3.3.2 name and breed of the dog; 3.3.3 description of the dog including whether the dog is male or female, spayed or unspayed or neutered or unneutered as the case may be; and at the discretion of the owner, the following additional information may be supplied; identification information such as micro-chip implants, tattoos or other special markings. 3.4 The following are exempt from registration: 3.4.1 the Municipal Staff or Pound Keeper or the Yarmouth Chapter of the SPCA shall not be required to register a stray; 3.5 a dog that is trained to assist and assists a person with a disability is exempt from paying a registration fee but not from registration; MUNICIPALITY OF THE DISTRICT OF YARMOUTH Dog By-law D-048-22 Effective Date: February 22, 2023 Page | 3 Dog By-Law D-048-22 3.6 the owner of every dog shall keep, on the dog, a collar with the tag issued for that dog by Municipal Staff at the time of registration and such tag shall be kept securely fixed on the dog at all times during the year until a replacement tag is issued, except that such tag may be removed while the dog is being used for lawful hunting purposes in the presence and under the control of the dog's owner and wearing a collar bearing the owner's name and address; 3.7 the owner of a dog shall deliver in writing to the Municipal Staff a statement of the number of dogs owned or harbored, or that are kept upon the premises occupied by the owner within 10 days after having received notice requiring it to be provided; 3.8 if an owner files a Statutory Declaration that a tag has been lost, with the Municipal Staff, the Municipal Staff may replace the tag that has been lost upon payment by the owner of an amount of five ($5.00) dollars. Part 4 Dogs Running at Large 4.1 Any dog which is off the premises occupied by the owner without being under the continuous restraint or control of a person is deemed to be running at large for the purposes of this By- law. A dog which is tethered on a tether of sufficient length to permit the dog to leave the property boundaries of the premises occupied by the owner is deemed to be running at large. Part 5 Fierce or Dangerous Dogs 5.1 For the purpose of this By-law a dog that is fierce or dangerous means any dog: 5.1.1 that is a wolf-dog hybrid; 5.1.2 that, in the absence of a mitigating factor as defined herein, has attacked or injured a person; 5.1.3 that, in the absence of a mitigating factor as defined herein, has injured a domestic animal; 5.1.4 that, in the absence of a mitigating factor as defined herein, when either unmuzzled or unleashed, in a vicious or terrorizing manner, approached any person in an apparent attitude of attack upon streets, sidewalks, any public grounds or places, or on private property other than the property of the owner; MUNICIPALITY OF THE DISTRICT OF YARMOUTH Dog By-law D-048-22 Effective Date: February 22, 2023 Page | 4 Dog By-Law D-048-22 5.1.5 owned or harbored in whole or in part for the purpose of dog fighting; or 5.1.6 trained for dog fighting; provided that no dog shall be deemed fierce or dangerous if it is a professionally trained guard dog while lawfully engaged for law enforcement. Part 6 Responsibilities of Owners 6.1 Every owner of a dog: 6.1.1 whose dog runs at large; 6.1.2 whose dog is not wearing a tag required by this By-law; 6.1.3 whose dog is not registered pursuant to this By-law; 6.1.4 whose dog persistently disturbs the quiet of the neighborhood by barking, howling or otherwise (refer to Appendix A Procedure for Barking Dogs); 6.1.5 who neglects or refuses to provide a written statement required by this By-law; 6.1.6 who harbors, keeps, or has under care, control or direction a dog that is fierce or dangerous; 6.1.7 who fails to remove the feces of a dog, other than a dog that is trained to assist and is assisting a person with a disability, from public property or private property other than the owner's; is in contravention of the By-law. Part 7 Impounding 7.1 Municipal Staff may, without notice to or complaint against the owner, impound any dog that: 7.1.1 runs at large contrary to this By-law; 7.1.2 is not wearing a tag required by this By-law; MUNICIPALITY OF THE DISTRICT OF YARMOUTH Dog By-law D-048-22 Effective Date: February 22, 2023 Page | 5 Dog By-Law D-048-22 7.1.3 is not registered pursuant to this By-law; 7.1.4 is fierce or dangerous; 7.1.5 is rabid or appears to be rabid or exhibits symptoms of canine madness; or 7.1.6 persistently disturbs the quiet of the neighborhood by barking, howling or otherwise. 7.2 An impounding fee and daily pound fee shall be set out by the Municipal Council and shall be payable by any person seeking to redeem an impounded dog; 7.3 Subject to Sections 7.5, 7.6 and 8.1 of this By-law, except in the case where a dog is impounded for being fierce or dangerous, or is rabid or exhibits symptoms of canine madness, the owner of a dog which has been impounded, upon proof of ownership of the dog, may redeem the dog after payment to the Pound Keeper, or making arrangement for payment satisfactory to the Pound Keeper, of the Impounding Fee and the Daily Pound Fee(s), along with reimbursement for any Extraordinary Expenses incurred by the Municipal Staff in relation to the dog; 7.4 In the case of redemption of a dog which has not been registered pursuant to this By-law, the owner shall also be required to register the dog and pay the registration fee before being allowed to redeem the dog; 7.5 Any dog which has not been redeemed by its owner at the expiry of a period of seventy-two (72) hours after being impounded may be given away, sold or killed by the Pound Keeper and, if sold, the proceeds shall belong to the Municipality; 7.6 Whenever the seventy-two (72) hours of impounding time expires on a weekend, the Pound Keeper shall hold such dog until the expiry of the first business day following the weekend to permit the owner to redeem the dog. Part 8 Notice 8.1 Upon any dog being impounded the Pound Keeper shall check for a tag and if a tag is found, the Pound Keeper shall make at least two attempts to contact the registered owner of the dog using the tag number on the records of Municipal Staff. Provided however that if a dog is missing, the onus is on the owner of the dog to ascertain within the time period provided for impounding under this By-Law, whether the dog has been impounded, and neither the Pound Keeper nor the Municipality shall incur liability in the event of failure to give Notice to the MUNICIPALITY OF THE DISTRICT OF YARMOUTH Dog By-law D-048-22 Effective Date: February 22, 2023 Page | 6 Dog By-Law D-048-22 owner, if the owner has not made inquiry of the Pound Keeper to determine whether the dog was impounded. Part 9 Destroying 9.1 Municipal Staff may, without notice to or complaint against the owner, destroy on sight or after capture any dog that: 9.1.1 is fierce or dangerous; 9.1.2 is rabid or appears to be rebid or exhibits symptoms of canine madness. 9.2 Municipal Staff may, after two written warnings have been given to the owner that a dog has been running at large or eluding capture, kill such dog on sight or after capture; 9.3 Municipal Staff may, kill on sight any dog that is running at large and which he or she believes, on reasonable and probable grounds, to pose a danger to a person or a domestic animal or to property of persons other than the owner. 9.4 Part 9 of this By-law shall apply in emergency situations where destroying the dog is necessary to protect others or other animals. A decision to destroy, in non-emergency situations, should be communicated to the owner, and the owner given an opportunity to make representations (in writing or in person) to the CAO, before the actual destruction of the dog is undertaken. Part 10 Enforcement 10.1 Municipal Staff shall be responsible for the enforcement of this By-law. Part 11 Penalty 11.1 Any person who contravenes any provision of this By-Law is punishable on summary conviction by a fine of not less than one hundred ($100.00) dollars and not more than one thousand ($1000.00) dollars. 11.2 Any person who has contravened Section 6 of this By-law and where notice so provides may pay a penalty in the amount of fifty ($50.00) dollars (first offence, one hundred ($100.00) MUNICIPALITY OF THE DISTRICT OF YARMOUTH Dog By-law D-048-22 Effective Date: February 22, 2023 Page | 7 Dog By-Law D-048-22 dollars for a second offence, and one hundred fifty ($150.00) dollars for subsequent offences) to the office of the Municipality of Yarmouth provided that said payment is made within a period of fourteen (14) days from the date of the notice and where the said notice so provides for a voluntary payment, said payment shall be in full satisfaction, releasing and discharging all penalties incurred by the person for said violation, in accordance with the Payment In Lieu of Prosecution Policy P-082-02. Part 12 Repeal 12.1 This By-law hereby repeals and replaces Dog By-law D-048-02. Chief Administrative Officer's Annotation for Official By-Law Book Date of First Reading November 23, 2022 Date of Advertisement of Notice of Intent to Consider January 26, 12023 Date of Second Reading February 22, 2023 Date of Advertisement of Passage of By-Law March 9, 2023 Date of Mailing to Minister a Certified Copy of By-Law March 20, 2023 I certify that this Dog By-Law D-048-22 was adopted by Council and published as indicated above. ___________________________________ April 3, 2023 Chief Administrative Officer Date Date last reviewed: February 22, 2023 Date of last amendment: February 22, 2023 MUNICIPALITY OF THE DISTRICT OF YARMOUTH Dog By-law D-048-22 Effective Date: February 22, 2023 Page | 8 Dog By-Law D-048-22 Appendix A Procedure for Barking Dogs Part 1 Complaints 1. All complainants must be willing (if required) to testify in court if the dog owner pleads not guilty to the Summary Offense Ticket. Complainants should be aware that they may be subpoenaed. 2. There should be complaints (written, signed and dated) from at least two separate complainants before any investigation begins (where possible). See complaint procedure below. 3. Complaints about first time offenders should be treated as a warning, with care taken to explain to the owners that a second complaint could result in a fine. 4. All complaints shall be followed up on in writing to the complainants in writing to the complainants. 5. Any dispute that is clearly a result of neighbor unrest shall be assessed by the By-law Officer who will determine the direction to be taken. Part 2 Complaint Procedure 2.1 It is important that the following questions are asked, and that as much information as possible is obtained and documented from the complainant: 2.1.1 Identity of dog(s): Civic address of property on which dog is situated; owner of the dog(s); the number of dog(s) barking; where the dog(s) are observed barking; distance between complainant's home and the dog(s) barking. 2.1.2 If dog barks at night, how is the complainant certain as to the identity of the dog(s)? 2.1.3 Is the complainant certain that the dogs are in fact owned by the person alleged to be the owner? 2.1.4 On what days are the dog(s) barking? MUNICIPALITY OF THE DISTRICT OF YARMOUTH Dog By-law D-048-22 Effective Date: February 22, 2023 Page | 9 Dog By-Law D-048-22 2.1.5 Describe the barking: How long does it last? Is it howling? How often does the barking repeat itself? 2.1.6 What was the complainant doing when the dog(s) were barking? 2.1.7 In what way did the barking dog(s) disturb the complainant? NOTE: The answers to the above noted questions must be specific. A Court will not convict if the complainant is only able to say that a dog barks "all the time" or "a lot" and that it really "bothers me." A Court must be told when exactly the dog barks, the nature of the barking and the manner in which it disturbs the peace and quiet of the complainant. Part 3 Enforcement Process The enforcement process is as follows: On the first call, information of the complaint is received. A visit to the owner's home is made and a verbal warning to the owner as well as a copy of the by-law shall be given so that the owner may be educated as to their responsibilities. On the second call, the owner shall be given a written warning. If Municipal Staff deem this a persistent problem and the owner has not taken measures to remedy their barking dog(s), the next course of action shall be to prepare a file for prosecution.