The Oliver Parks and Recreation Society wants the Town to revise the Animal Control Bylaw to remove the community park as an off-leash area from dawn to 9 am.
File photo
The Oliver Parks and Recreation Society is asking the Town to revise its Animal Control Bylaw to keep dogs leashed in the community park.
The request comes in the wake of a recent board meeting, where directors raised a concern about unleashed dogs in the area. These concerns were actually brought forward by members of the public.
The bylaw currently states that pet owners are permitted to have their dogs off leash in the community park from dawn to 9 am.
But Parks and Rec manager Carol Sheridan said some dog owners do not abide by this time frame and allow their pets to run unleashed in the park throughout the day. And when other pet owners see this, they start doing it because they think it’s okay.
Sheridan said the board is encouraging the public to use the designated off-leash area (the fenced baseball diamond) south east of the community park. This area is available from dawn to 10 pm all year round (when not occupied by people playing sports).
Other off-leash areas include south of Fairview Road (hike and bike trail – dawn to 9 am) and street ends abutting Tucelnuit Lake – dawn to 10 pm.
Recently, Parks and Recreation removed the off-leash signs in the community park because the times were wrong. Sheridan said staff will erect corrected signs if council denies their request for the bylaw revision.
Sheridan said part of the concern is some people, including early morning runners, feel uncomfortable with dogs running around unleashed.
“Nobody is saying there are no responsible dog owners, but we’ve already got a designated area where people can walk their dogs.”
Sheridan said the people who brought forward the concerns felt “unsafe” with unleashed dogs in the park.
Parks board member Dave Mattes said he supports the bylaw revision as a director, but as a Town councillor, he can’t say until council addresses the issue.
Mattes said the parks board is not eliminating the off-leash area, only re-defining the size. He noted that some dog owners do not clean up after their pets, so having one designated off-leash area makes it easier to maintain.
But former mayor Pat Hampson said the current bylaw offers a balance between concerns about off-leash dogs and allowing responsible owners to let their dogs run free in specified areas.
Hampson said he has not read any reports about a serious situation between animals and humans to justify a change in the bylaw.
“Having read no reports of troubling behaviour we are very concerned that Parks and Recreation now finds it necessary to request that the Town remove the community park as an off-leash area during the period from dawn to 9 am.”
Hampson said he believes that making the change to the bylaw amounts to an attempt to pacify a few residents who find a problem with dogs at large.
Hampson suggested that enforcement of the bylaw is the appropriate remedy, not a blanket removal of privileged hours that responsible dog owners respect.
“Should council accede to the request by Parks and Recreation, then you are allowing a vocal minority to infringe on the freedom of the majority.”
Town Councillor Maureen Doerr acknowledged that a lot of people have a fear of dogs.
She noted that many people, especially those with limited mobility, use the park and should not be subject to dogs running loose.
“There are a lot of natural areas to take dogs . . . up in the mountains, so in my opinion I think that all citizens must be respected on this very sensitive issue.”
Councillor Larry Schwartzenberger noted that during the summer months, the designated off-leash area is used for sports more frequently.
Therefore, allowing the entire community park to be off-leash from dawn until 9 am (when there are fewer people) seems to be a reasonable option, he said.
“Going forward, I think the current bylaw strikes a fair balance, however, I am open to hearing reasoned arguments to change the off-leash rules for the community park,” Schwartzenberger said.
Lyonel Doherty
Oliver Chronicle
