At the last Côte Saint-Luc council meeting I moved a motion to modify our by-law  for the regulation of dogs. This was deemed necessary to be in line with new provincial government legislation.

You can watch the full meeting, which was conducted via Zoom Video, here.

One minor change was done to the draft by-law that was tabled at the April 6, 2020 meeting, namely, that the coming into force of the obligation to microchip all dogs on the territory of CSL will be on April 6, 2021.

The remainder of by-law 2555 will come into force as of July 11, 2020 (in order for Public Security to inform the City of Montreal of the modifications), with the exception of the microchipping articles.

This new regulation  aims to provide a basis for reducing the risk of attacks and tragic incidents related to dangerous dogs. For instance, dogs 20 kg and over must wear a halter or harness at all times. Wearing a leash with a maximum length of 1.85 meters is also now compulsory, except in a dog park, hunting, in a training course or a dog competition (the latter three will unlikely occur in CSL).     Doctors are  obligated to report serious dog bites. Veterinarians must report dogs they believe to pose a risk, and municipalities will enforce the rules and order any dog responsible for an attack to be euthanized. 

We have had issues in the past with dangerous dogs. But usually, it is the owner who is fault.

In  CSL we have an active Dog Owners Committee I launched after the last election. I know many people would like to see our Dog Runs reopened. Regrettably, in our  effort to avoid gatherings, council  groups the Dog Run in the same category of playgrounds. While I am personally confident our dog owners would respect social distancing, we must give this situation some more time to evaluate.