On March 25, council will likely adopt the amended Animal Control Bylaw. That means that soon dog owners will be able to happily walk their dogs downtown, something that is currently prohibited, though often ignored.
The bylaw also gives bylaw enforcers the ability to write tickets for tying dogs up downtown, something that can also be seen at almost any time around Ferraro Foods and other locations on Columbia.
Council passed the bylaw up to the adoption phase during Monday’s meeting, which was a recommendation of an earlier council committee on the matter.
There were still some councillors that did not agree with the bylaw change. Coun. Jill Spearn was still not comfortable with allowing dogs downtown.
She noted that there are people who are still uncomfortable with dogs, and Rossland has over 100 kms of trail just outside the city.
Mayor Greg Granstrom, who missed the committee meeting where the recommendation went forward, said he’d be the first to repeal the amendments if it turns out badly.
The other councillors seemed not as concerned.
The current bylaw is not working at keeping the dogs out of downtown, and also could be seen as unwelcoming to visitors of Rossland who own dogs.
The new one will hopefully alleviate some of the tension that surrounds the topic and allow for responsible dog owners to walk through town without getting funny looks and angry stares, that is, as long as they clean up after their dog.