ELK POINT - Elk Point Town Council delayed moving forward last Monday night with first reading of proposed legislation intended to give some teeth to the municipality’s Animal Control Bylaw, instead deferring discussion to the June 9 meeting.
While the proposed bylaw was on the agenda, CAO Ken Gwozdz suggested council would need additional time to consider its contents.
“It gives everyone a chance to see those changes because it’s a pretty important bylaw and it’s pretty thick,” Gwozdz said of the new draft bylaw prepared by the Town’s solicitors.
In November of last year, council directed administration to have a new bylaw drafted. The request followed an incident in August 2024 where a “double dog attack” was reported. According to information provided to council, the Town of Elk Point received a King’s Bench Court order to put down one of the dangerous dogs on Oct. 21, 2024. In January of this year, the Town received a Provincial Court order for the other dog involved in the attack.
“Because Town Animal Control Bylaw 871/23 does not have the ‘teeth’ we had to apply to Provincial Court for the second dog,” administration stated in background provided in the request for decision to council Monday night.
The process the Town had to pursue through the courts in addressing the dog attack “revealed that the current bylaw is not easily enforceable,” administration noted.
Mayor Parrish Tung agreed council members needed some additional time to review the recently received document before moving forward with discussion.
“We need some time to look it over carefully,” he said.
Once first reading is received, a public hearing will be held for residents to have their input.
