If you’re walking your dog in Vancouver and want to quickly buy some groceries or get a coffee, be aware that you’re breaking the law if you tie up Fido to a pole and leave him unattended.
In the interest of curiosity, does this same bylaw exist in your community too?
I leave the kids unattended in the car seats all the time.
What we really need is a law against passing laws that control EVERY little thing that could “possibly” be bad/harmful/dangerous/politically incorrect.
And one more thing……. fire the bylaw cop that issues that ticket. Put the resources into the human rights commissions.
Important stuff.
Interesting Robert. Only a couple hours ago, me and a friend were comforting a dog tied up outside of Sciue’s Italian Bistro @ False Creek.
My friend mentioned this bylaw. We were trying to figure out how, with the health regulations prohibiting dogs inside, a guy could get a cuppa java while walking the dog. We concluded you’d have to go home with Fido then go out again.
I don’t have a dog, or a dog in this hunt, but obviously it’s ridiculous OR perhaps it’s just mischief after all the more pressing matters have been solved.
That said, I feel for critters tied up outside esp. if they’re out of eye contact with their owners and SHIVERING (as the pooch was today). As my daughter puts it, they really don’t know what’s happening, don’t know if they have been abandoned.
I have a strong personal connection with waiting pooches. My skipper, a very heavy drinker, used to abandon me in his truck whilst he got pi88ed at the Legion. That pooch today was me as a little boy.
Not here in Edmonchuk,Robert,but you will be fined if your horse is not properly secured while you are in the bar!
There’s a pretty good reason for that law. Should your pet attack someone while left unattended and there wasn’t a law against the practice, the town could be found liable for condoning what is in many cases a reprehensible practice – I have seen dogs tied up outside coffee shops and other places for hours on end – that should be illegal.
Yeah, I enjoy walking in Vancouver and hoping that the dog’s leash is tied short enough that it can’t bite my kid’s face off as we go by.
Look, people have rights, dogs do not. If you can’t figure out how to take get a cup of coffee without Fido tagging along then perhaps you’re just not smart enough to own a dog. And for F**** sake pick up your dog’s crap, ok?
And the on going story….as the Stomach Turns..what will the loons think of next…idle minds thats the problem….to many elected…nothing to do …just play with themselves….///
I am more concerned when people leave their kids unattended.
Some people leave their dogs for a long time and might forget to water them. Bad form.
This seems like some soft-target misdemeanor the authorities would rather enforce than tackling more serious issues.
A $250 fine! That’s a b*llsh*t ordinance, a revenue-producer under the touchy-feely guise of animal protection.
What the cruelest part about treatment of large dogs in cities like Vancouver, Toronto and others, is the fact that people in those cities actually own large dogs. If you don’t have enough property to keep your dog on, and where it can get enough exercise, get a hamster. Or a small dog you need to carry in your (man)purse, they are pretty much the same as a rodent anyway.
If you can’t open the back door and just let the dog out to run, you shouldn’t have a dog.
The cruelest thing you can do to a dog is to have to put it on a leash. Either have enough space for it, pick the damn thing up, or learn to train it properly.
And if you need to tie your dog to a pole while you nip into the starbucks for a latte, you got more problems than I can solve.
As for licencing and such, I’m all for shooting strays or unaccompanied dogs in the city streets, and for euthinizing all unlicenced dogs brought to the pound.
That will encourage people to be responsible dog owners.
And yes, as a matter of fact I do have a dog. She sleeps in front of the fire when I let her, runs where ever and when ever she wants to, and doesn’t bother anyone. Other perhaps than the coyotes she keeps my kids and other critters safe from.
Parents in Surrey left 50,000 of their children unattended in downtown Vancouver during a hockey game, and look how that turned out.
“That’s a b*llsh*t ordinance, a revenue-producer under the touchy-feely guise of animal protection.”
If that were true, then bylaw officers would be handing out tickets all the time. But they’re not, so there goes your knee-jerk theory.
As the article makes clear, and as Robert goes to some length to ignore, the bylaw is in fact rarely enforced, and reserved for instances where the animal is being aggressive or neglected. It’s less “Fido tied up to a lamppost for 3 minutes while Owner pops into Timmies for a take-away double-double” and more “Fido, tied up to a tree trunk for 6 hours, snapping at the neighbourhood kids coming home from school, while Owner sleeps off his hangover.” It gives the City some remedy to punish negligent pet owners and, just as importantly, some protection against liability when passersby are physically injured.
At the Starbucks entrance of Chapters bookstores here in suburbia Calgary, there used to be steel hooks attached to the exterior wall, available to hold your dog’s leash while you zipped in to get a coffee or maybe a grande carmel moccachino with extra drizzle.
They’d usually have a bowl of water out there too for the pups. Sorry, nothing for cats.
yeah there’s probably something like that in my municipality – a total abomination of property rights but frick, that;s normal in the post-democratic era.
All I can say to the petty bylaw douchebags who attempt to steal tied up pups is that forcing my dog to do something he doesn’t want to is a learning experience for wannabe pet tyrants 😉
Responsible owners don’t take aggressive dogs into public venues, so tickets for them is legitimate. My dog doesn’t need to be tied up, she will just sit and wait for me if I dash into a store with no hitching post but training takes effort some people won’t expend. That said, isn’t Vancouver the greeny capital of Canada urging us to walk or bicycle everywhere but won’t let us take the dog along? Old saying: If your dog is too fat, you are not getting enough exercise.
Robert asked: “In the interest of curiosity, does this same bylaw exist in your community too?”
Dude, Hamilton has a by-law against hanging up a frickin’ clothes line. Tying a dog to a telephone pole outside the coffee shop is like tying granny to the railroad tracks.
I just LOVE how Davenport is trying to spin this thing too. Inconsistent and capricious enforcement of -idiotic- regulations is the hallmark of a tyranny, not a free country.
All that’s needed here is some common sense. Make the by-law “Can’t leave a dog tied up and unattended for more than 15 minutes”, and that gives people plenty of time to dash in for an errand.
The issue of dogs jumping on other people or dogs is entirely different. If your animal is so poorly behaved, you shouldn’t be leaving him unattended, and a separate by-law – with much heavier fines, IMHO – should deal with that situation.
And yes, even here in benighted Toronto, I have seen coffee shops that have water dishes for dogs out front.
Emotional Support Animals?
re: Davenport’s comment
Wait wait wait.
You can’t even leash your own dog in your yard?!
That’s insane.
KevinB, my dog used to jump up on -everybody- when I lived in Toronto. He could get his wet nose in your eye from a standing start.
I didn’t leave him tied to anything in case somebody tried to swipe him. Him jumping up was a given.
I grew up on a farm. Dogs, cats were free to run at large 24/7. City folk would get upset when we didn’t bring them in at night, even when you showed them that if you left the door open and tried to shoo them in they wouldn’t go.
Having dogs in the city where they have to be contained or tied up is cruel and unusual, period.
Yes, I’m rather closed minded in this regard.
“Emotional Support Animals?”
Posted by: foobert at January 27, 2012 12:09 AM
Yep, they are called Therapy Dogs and work in hospitals, seniors’ homes, schools and libraries across the country.
http://www.infocusmagazine.ca/2010/healing-paws/
I’m with bethesdaguy on this one. Dogs are territorial pack animals by nature. They need a territory of their own and being alone is stressful, more so in the smaller breeds. Unless you have an acre at minimum you should not have a dog. You also shouldn’t leave it alone every day when you head off to work. I used to live in an apartment with an upstairs neighbour who owned a chihuahua that would whine all day long while she was at work. She was utterly clueless about what she was putting the poor thing through.
Regarding the bylaw issue, I live near a small town in Ontario. We have one bylaw officer who also is the building inspector and wears a couple of other hats. If there is a bylaw it is not enforced. When you see a dog in town it’s in the back of a pickup truck or SUV.
One of the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen is people in Vancouver having large dogs in apartments. Dogs need lots of space and that precludes having large dogs in downtown areas. Some of the most neurotic dogs I’ve run into have been in Vancouver and some of the happiest looking in the country. I don’t even like the idea of people having cats in apartments as cats also like to roam around.
Judging from what I’ve seen of peoples behavior in Vancouver, I’m not sure that it’s a good idea to cram that many people into such a small space.
Loki, thanks for making that point about too many people in small spaces, that’s where I was going next…
Haha, this is fitting. This is part of a new series called Portlandia. Funny stuff..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCDbY_lXS5A
When I got my dog, we did a 6 week obedience class. The instructor warned us in strongest terms to never leave our dogs tied up outside (a store) and unattended because a nice happy friendly dog is quite a temptation to somebody who has no qualms about stealing and your dog could be gone in a minute.
When I had a dog I never left him alone while we were out walking. That was in Ottawa. In Vancouver?!? I loved my dog – the thought of leaving him tied up to a post in VANCOUVER, at the whim of every druggie in the city, would not occur.
Why should you leave your dog unattended on a public property that you don`t own?? If you`re going to leave the dog unattended, why not leave him on your own property?? A Bichon Frise tied in front of Safeways`s will attract German Shepherds and Rothweilers that are out of dog food at home. After the owner of the Bichon hears “bow wow-chomp chomp” it`s too late to act!!
As a past dog owner, (German Shepherds) trust me when I tell you that the grand majority of the public despises dogs with a passion!
Don’t worry, this is Vancouver. This will not be enforced. For example, I see people with their dogs in grocery stores every day. If they don’t enforce that, what makes you think they will with this?
I have told off many a clerk in grocery stores for allowing animals that are not “handicap assistance animals”.
I then walk out and do my best to make a scene about not eating anything from they store because of it.
Our new neighbors have brought dogfighting with them fromt their old countries. If you leave your pet tied outside the grocery store he probably won’t be there when you get out. You’re left crying and your dog gets to be a bait dog until he dies. It’s so common that leaving dogs outside is now illegal here.
Plainzdrifter says:
As a past dog owner, (German Shepherds) trust me when I tell you that the grand majority of the public despises dogs with a passion!
I would disagree slightly with that,might quite possibly be a reason.Most people that despises dogs do for a reason and that is they have had a bad encounter at some point in their fearfull life.
I have owned both a chocolate point siamese,he was ferocious and a rotty kinda mix. my Dad was at home one day and two energy salesman came to the door [Ontario] ,as my dad was telling them he wasn’t interested in their contract at this time.He kinda slightly pushed his way through the door at which time Bruno hit the door and bit his stomach and got the other guy as he was retreating on the back calf.
My moral of the story is i bet you a dollar to donuts both them emmmm salesman despise most dogs since then.