On Monday evening, May 01st, the City of Surrey Councilors passed the final adoption of the Responsible Dog Ownership bylaw.

This was a very significant event as the City of Surrey now has one of the most progressive and toughest Non- dog breed specific bylaws in British Columbia.

The Surrey Dog Advisory Committee has been working together since April of 1999, making changes to the previous dog bylaw, which was implemented in December of 1992.

This committee is made up of private citizens, Surrey bylaw staff as well as professional dog experts.

With the passing of the new bylaw, the Dog Owners Education Committee has put together a public educational brochure about the new dog control bylaw, as well as a children's dog bite education package for distribution to the Surrey school district.

There is also a plan to hold a fall workshop for adults & youth to generate the best possible means of increasing responsible dog ownership awareness
within the Surrey community.

A few highlights from the new Bylaw to note:

1.. It is very User-Pay in its philosophy, i.e. if you are irresponsible and let your dog Run at large and animal control picks
it up, your dog will be flagged "Potentially Dangerous" right from the first time if proven justified. The Dog impounding fee starts at $150.00, which includes licensing & microchipping & goes up to
$500.00.

2.. Impound fees for "Dangerous Dogs" will be $1,000 for the first impounding and for each subsequent Running at large offense, a fine of $5,000 will be applied.

3.. If the Dangerous Dog bites a person/ domestic animal, the fine is automatically $5,000 for the first impoundment of the dog.

4.. In the past, owners of a Dangerous Dog could turn their dogs to the pound to be destroyed if guilty of vicious attacks or biting incidents and escape the fines. BUT NOW, these irresponsible dog owners will have to pay the severe fines whether or not the dog is destroyed,

5.. Owner of a Dangerous Dog has to show proof of valid Liability insurance before the Dangerous Dog license is issued. The Dangerous Dog license fee is $200.00 annually.

The Responsible Dog Ownership Bylaw will be placed up on the City of Surrey's website soon.

We are confident that other local municipalities will want to copy our Bylaw, as the penalties are deliberately harsh, but it is meant to encourage all dog owners to be responsible.

I would like to thank the Mayor and Councilors of Surrey for having supported our efforts to form a citizens driven Advisory Board and empowering us to make the best possible Bylaw
recommendation for our community.

We look forward to promoting our
Bite-free Safety program and our fall workshop to promote responsible
dog ownership in Surrey.