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Dogs in the city

Wednesday, November 7, 2007 | 08:35 AM ET

The Toronto parks committee says it wants to bring in new rules for professional dog walkers and charge a licence fee.

"There are some commercial dog walkers who drive up and have 12 dogs and empty them out of a van, let them run rough in the park and then put them back. This [proposed bylaw] is attempting to regulate that type of activity," said committee chair Paula Fletcher.

Professional dog walkers are generally in favour of the new rules and agree there are bad apples who allow dogs to run amok in parks. But they want something in return for the fees and regulation.

Now the Toronto parks committee wants to impose a licence fee and other restrictions on professional dog walkers to try and control the number of dogs in the city's off-leash areas.

The city is proposing a limit of six dogs per walker and a licensing fee of $200 per year.

"With this permit money we can look at enhancing some of the turf issues in dog off-leash areas that commercial dog walkers are using. So it's a benefit to everybody," said Fletcher.

The proposed new rules go to council for a final vote later this month.

Does Toronto need to licence dog walkers? Are there enough off-leash areas in the city? Should dogs be banned from city parks? What's your view?

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Comments

matt

toronto

Some sort of fee should be implemented for ALL users of off leash parks, not just the commercial dog walkers. It should be a membership based system that charges a fee based upon the number of dogs the member wlll be bringing to the park(s). All dogs should be spayed or neutered, licensed and inoculated. The fees should be used to improve the leash free facilities and enforce membership/licensing policies.

Posted November 8, 2007 01:35 AM

Debbie

myob

What a stupid Idea tax on dogs in park what the flock is goin on in todays world...

MONEYMONEYMONEY!!!

Posted November 8, 2007 03:07 PM

Ian

There should be a $200+ fee for all dogs that live in the downtown core. This is not a tax but a fee to fix the damage done by the hundreds of dogs each day in the park in my neighbourhood alone. Owners letting there dogs run free in the parks destroy the plantings, the grass and make even sitting in the park unenjoyable. The money could also be used to have fenced in areas only for dogs to run free in. Why fenced in areas because then owners would actually pick up after their dogs and the city could have proper containers for it. It seems that owners believe if your dog poops in a planted area you don't need to pick it up.

One last thing, NO, MY the blue/grey/green box is not a place to put the poop either. Dog owners don't give a sh*t but their dogs sure do...

Posted November 9, 2007 10:03 AM

joseph william lea

dear cbc.i think its a marvellous idea. why because it may reduce the number of dogs a dog walker takes for walks. people today usualy have three small dogs and one big one too much to handle.i once owned a german shepherd dog and it took all my strength to control tania whose been dead many years but i miss her affectionate nature. joseph william lea etobicoke

Posted November 10, 2007 06:27 AM

Chris

Waterloo

Ban them from all Parks! The park is meant for me to take my daughter to the swing set or for my family to have a picnic, not for some fool to bring 20 dogs to run wild for a few minutes wreaking havoc on all people in the park trying to enjoy themselves.

I think the city should designate 1 park as a 'dog park' where its a dogs only area. All the dog walkers can go there. And considering dog walkers rarely clean up after their dogs in the regular parks, we can at least keep the mess in one spot.

Posted November 11, 2007 08:08 AM

George

Toronto

I think the imposing a fee on the professional dog walkers is a good idea and I am behind it. I must say I find it troubling to read such harsh comments towards regular dog owners and their dogs. For the next 8 months, dog owners and their dogs will be the only ones using the city parks. You and your daughter will not be in the park in the middle of the winter..but the dog owners will. Lets not ban them from parks...lets embrace them by building proper off leash areas and garbage facilities so we can all live happily together.

Posted November 14, 2007 12:45 AM

Debbie

Toronto

I have lived next to two parks with lease free areas for fifteen years. I have three children and I can honestly say we have never had an unpleasant encounter with a dog or dog owner. All of the dogs and owners are very respectful of the other people in the park. I think that it is great that dogs have a free area to play and fetch etc. Also, our parks are very safe because they are used; there are dog walkers and dogs at all hours of the day!

Posted November 14, 2007 06:35 AM

Karen

Toronto

There should definitely be a licensing fee for dog walkers to cover the damage caused by dogs to city property. Also, some dog walkers and owners are responsible and always pick up after their dog, but unfortunately not everyone does. Disease from dog feces lives in the soil or sand for up to 2 years. Contrary to what some people think, it doesn't get washed away with the rain or snow. Because of this, we should designate only one or two parks for dogs, and then the rest of the parks should be dog free, keeping them clean for children and people to picnic in. After all, you can take your dog for a walk anywhere on the streets. It's always quite a sight to see all the dog poop left during the winter after the snow melts. Not exactly taking care of the environment....

Posted November 18, 2007 02:10 AM

Robert

Toronto

This is a great idea... especially since it could be expanded to daycare centres.

Simply take one of the previous misguided posts, correct some spelling, substitute "Child" for "Dog" and you have the basic idea....

"There should be a $200+ fee for all children that live in the downtown core. This is not a tax but a fee to fix the vandalism, theft and noise done by the children each day, in the park in my neighbourhood alone. Parents let their children run free in the parks, who then mark the buildings, destroy the plantings, and make even sitting in the park unenjoyable. The money could also be used to have fenced in areas for children to run free in. Why fenced in areas ? Because then parents would actually pick up after their children. It seems that parents believe if your child sprays graffiti, leaves garbage you don't need to clean it up."

Posted November 26, 2007 04:35 PM

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