Animals

New Animal Control Bylaw Allows Higher Animal Limits

Restrictions are now equal for all landowners

By Amanda Stuhl, County Patrol

On July 7, 2010, Mountain View County Council approved the new Animal Control Bylaw. What does that mean to you?

The good news is that this new Animal Control Bylaw is much more flexible than the old Land Use Bylaw. Under the old Land Use Bylaw (Bylaw #55/95), animal limits were determined by land zoning. For example, if you lived on a piece of property zoned Country Residential, you could only have one dog, 1 cat and up to 4 fowl no matter what size your parcel was. If the Country Residential property wanted more animals, they had to apply for a Development Permit.

When the new Land Use Bylaw (Bylaw #10/10) came into force, it did not address animal limits. Therefore a new Animal Control Bylaw had to be created. Under the new Animal Control Bylaw, animal limits still go by zoning; however, it also takes into account how much land you have as well:

- If you are zoned Country Residential and you are the only subdivided parcel on the quarter, you can have up to one livestock unit per acre.
- If you are not the only subdivided parcel on the quarter, then you are allowed to have one livestock unit per three acres; or one livestock unit per acre with a permit.
- If you are zoned Country Residential and you have 1 - 2.99 acres, if you are a single subdivided parcel on a quarter, you are allowed 1 livestock unit in total. However, if you are not the only subdivided parcel on the quarter, you must obtain a permit to have a livestock unit.
- Livestock is not allowed on Country Residential parcels less than 1 acre in size.

All Country Residential parcels are now allowed 3 dogs, a big change from the one dog these parcels were restricted to before. Cats are no longer restricted under the Animal Control Bylaw.

One other change is that animal numbers are now restricted on parcels less than 10 acres in size that are zoned Agricultural. The old Land Use Bylaw did not list any restrictions for these parcels, and this resulted in some landowners having excessive amounts of animals on their land, some to point that the SPCA had to become involved. Under the Animal Control Bylaw:

- If you are zoned Agricultural, your parcel is less than 10 acres, and you are the only subdivided parcel on a quarter section, you are allowed one livestock unit per acre.
- If you are zoned Agricultural, your parcel is less than 10 acres, and you are not the only subdivided parcel on the quarter section, you are allowed one livestock unit per three acres, However, you can apply for a permit to have one livestock unit per acre.
- On Agricultural parcels under 10 acres, three dogs are allowed. If you are over 10 acres and zoned Agricultural, you are allowed up to five dogs.
- Any parcel of land that has 6 or more dogs must apply for a breeding/boarding kennel permit as per the Land Use Bylaw.

Agricultural parcels over 10 acres do not have any animal number restrictions under the new Animal Control Bylaw. However, they need to abide by the standards the Province has set under the Agricultural Operations Practices Act (AOPA).

If the number of animals you currently have on your property now requires a permit, you may come to the office, fill out an application and obtain a permit free of charge until December 31, 2011.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this matter or any others, please contact Mountain View County Patrol at 403-335-3311.