'Who kicked the dogs out?': Colchester County dog kennel bylaw proposal protested
Dog lovers in Nova Scotia's Colchester County are upset about a proposed municipal bylaw they believe would shut down kennels and boarding facilities.
The kennel development bylaw states "no person shall be permitted to establish or operate any type of kennel" in the municipality. It also states kennels "in lawful existence prior to the effective date" would be in compliance.
About 100 people protested in front of the municipal building in Truro, N.S., on Tuesday. They carried signs that said "Voters Will Not be Muzzled" and "Who Kicked the Dogs Out?"
Threats of leaving
Kimberly Pennie organized the protest and said the bylaw could impact people who foster dogs as well as people with kennels.
"If this bylaw goes through, people will be leaving Colchester County," she said.
The county's mayor, Christine Blair, said the proposed bylaw is a temporary measure that wasn't intended to impact existing businesses.
"The interim bylaw would allow us to put a hold on new kennels until we got the new bylaw in place. Basically it's to maintain the status quo," she said. "We want business to continue going as business is going. There are no bans on business."
Proposed rules confusing, protesters say
Protesters and breeders who live in the county say the proposed rules are confusing and point out that nowhere is it spelled out that they are temporary.
Blair also acknowledged not having the word interim in the bylaw's wording has caused confusion.
"We would have to accept responsibility for not perhaps communicating the way we should have communicated," she said.
County council will debate and vote on the issue Thursday night.
Blair said if it passes, the temporary rules would be in place for about six months while land-use bylaws are being reviewed.
'We would be illegal'
The justification that the bylaw would be temporary isn't offering Christine and John Heartz any peace of mind. They have operated Birchill Kennels in Shortts Lake for 30 years and they breed Pomeranians, board dogs and do grooming.
The couple say they'd have to move if the rule was put in place.
"If they enforce the bylaw we would be illegal, so everything we do would be illegal. It would have quite an impact on us," said John Heartz.
"We would have no other recourse," said Christine Heartz. "It's not written down anywhere that it's temporary."
The couple said their customers have been reaching out with concerns about the business's future. Clients are worried that they'd have to take their pets outside of the county if they go away or have a family emergency, they said.
"The dogs are our whole life. It's what we do every day from the time we get up in the morning from the time we go to bed. So to lose the ability to do what we love would be devastating," said Christine Heartz.
The review was sparked by an application to expand a boarding facility in Bible Hill. That case has been appealed to the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board.
