Setting a three-dog limit for individual dog walkers and an eight-dog limit for commercial dog walkers using regional parks is a good start, members of the Capital Regional District’s parks committee agreed Wednesday.
Committee members also agreed with staff recommendations that professional dog walkers should pay a $320 licence fee and agree to conditions such as where and when their charges could be walked, along with a code of conduct.
The recommendations will now be forwarded to the CRD board for ratification.
If approved, the new regulations would kick in May 1.
Central Saanich Mayor Ryan Windsor said the number of dogs allowed could be revisited.
“It may be that further data comes forward that shows that [most] households have only one or two dogs and, therefore, we could reduce that number in the future,” Windsor said.
“But this is a reasonable place to start, in my view.”
Parks general manager Larisa Hutcheson told the committee that staff plan to come back to the committee in 2019 with a “much more comprehensive report” on parks issues, including dogs.
“It may be recommending an adjustment to the numbers based on two years of being out in the park,” she said, adding that the proposed extra patrols would likely bring in more anecdotal information about dog issues in parks.
CRD staff are seeking an additional $100,000 for 2018, which, combined with funds already dedicated to animal enforcement, would allow one four-hour patrol per day, circulating to different parks.
An estimated 20 commercial dog-walking businesses operate in the region.
Before the meeting, committee chairman Mike Hicks said he didn’t understand why individuals and commercial dog walkers would have different limits.
Tamara Pierson, who founded Adventure Dog in 2004, told the committee that commercial dog walkers have business licences, commercial liability insurance and abide by a professional code of conduct. They are experienced in handling dogs and have proper equipment to manage groups of dogs.
She said several commercial dog walkers are meeting monthly. They have created a code of conduct and are in the midst of registering as a professional collective.
“Our intention is to work alongside the CRD to promote responsible dog socialization in CRD parks,” she said.
Adventure Dog has a client list of about 300 households and a wait list, she said.
“Commercial dog walking services are in high demand in our community,” Pierson said.
The CRD parks bylaw already requires owners to have dogs under control at all times, to have a leash and collar for each dog at all times, and to remove waste.
The bylaw lists 11 parks that have restrictions on beaches and in picnic areas in the summer, whereby dogs are not allowed unless leashed and just passing through.
Dogs on the CRD’s three regional trails are to be leashed at all times.
Committee members also agreed, without debate, with staff recommendations not to supply dog-waste bags in CRD parks and on regional trails, except at the Governor General Field at Elk/Beaver Lake Regional Park.
Staff say the cost of supplying the dog-waste bags at the park is about $1,200 a year.
If just one bag station was installed at each regional park, an estimated $40,000 would be spent on bags, they said.
