P.E.I Opposition leader seeks more enforcement of rules around unsupervised dogs

P.E.I.'s Opposition leader is asking the province to do more to protect Islanders living in smaller municipalities from unsupervised dogs.

Peter Bevan-Baker is a dog lover and owns two himself.

He told the P.E.I. Legislature Friday that one of his constituents was seriously injured after being attacked by an off-leash dog while cycling to work last summer.

"After some time to recover, a long time to recover, from the attack my constituent resumed his cycling routine only to be attacked by the same dog once again," he said.

Bevan-Baker asked Justice and Public Safety Minister Bloyce Thompson what the government does to protect the public from domestic animals that pose a threat to public safety.

In P.E.I., the Dog Act is enforced by the province in unincorporated areas, Thompson said.

"We will have to address that," Thompson said. "We do work closely with the humane society and their dog catchers."

Bevan-Baker said peace and enforcement officers have the power under the Dog Act to penalize owners for allowing dogs to roam off-leash.

"It gives those same officers the power to impound dogs that are not properly confined and, therefore, potentially pose a threat to public safety," he said.

Bevan-Baker asked Thompson whether government actively enforces the act across the Island.

"We work closely with … the communities in unincorporated areas," Thompson said. "To make sure that the public safety is intact."

Thompson said he will bring data back to the legislature to show what the department is doing.

Change needed says Opposition leader

Bevan-Baker said that while the province helps enforce the Dog Act in unincorporated areas of the Island, municipalities are responsible for their own enforcement. Bevan-Baker is asking for that to change.

He said it may be fine for municipalities like Charlottetown, Cornwall and Stratford where the tax base is big enough and there is enough administration — but all municipalities on the Island don't have the same infrastructure to enforce dog laws.

"My constituent was attacked in a municipality that, like so many others in Prince Edward Island, lacks the capacity and the funding to enforce their own bylaws," Bevan-Baker said.

"In places like that these individuals who get harassed or threatened by unsupervised dogs are basically left to their own devices without the protections afforded by provincial legislation."

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