Animal Licensing and Control Bylaw

Unleashed Dog Walking

There are still some people that walk their dog unleashed. Not everyone is comfortable when close to a loose dog. Stiff fines and for repeat offenders, removal of the animal to an owner who cares.

generic or transferable licenses for rescue organizations

Off-leash for small dogs.

Would love to see a few off-leash areas for small dogs only, sort of like the setup Edmonton Humane has. I used to take my dogs to the regular off-leash areas until my Pomeranian was attacked at Terwilliger. She survived but it was a traumatic experience.

Outcomes Based Bylaw and Enforcement

Many public outdoor places are appropriate to bring dogs, but handlers must be in control of their dogs to ensure the space is safe for other users and their pets. The current bylaw is mostly about which places it is okay to have a dog on leash or off leash, and the most extreme problem behaviours. Some dogs can safely be off leash in nearly any situation, while some dogs are a danger to other users and their pets being off leash in off-leash areas. The bylaw should require that handlers have control of any dog they are handling, carry a leash for each dog they are handling, and that a dog must not engage in activity that could be unsafe or dangerous or interfere with using a place for its purpose. This will allow enforcement to deal with actual problems and emphasizes to citizens their responsibility for the conduct of their dogs as it impacts others, instead of simply requiring the dog be off leash in the correct area.

Barking dogs are becoming nuisance. Neglected left out all day and night, no walks, toys. Mandatory training for owners after 2 complaints.

Roaming cats are a nuisance and current bylaws aren't effective

There needs to be changes to the bylaw as most outdoor cats are unsupervised and roaming onto private property. I've had numerous instances of cats defecating in my garden beds, hissing and swatting at me, and attacking the birds in my yard. It's unacceptable that this has become the norm and cat owners seem to think their pet's right to roam overrides my right as a private property owner to a clean and safe outdoor space. I do not want to be picking cat poop out of my garden beds on a weekly basis. I do not want to have to dispose of bird carcasses in my yard who have been killed by roaming cats. If cat owners want to let their pets outside, they should be putting a leash on their pet to keep them on their own property.

It is irresponsible for cat owners to let their cats roam unsupervised. There are many risks and dangers that threaten their health/safety.

Many animal welfare organizations and veterinarians stress that it is best to keep cats inside. Some of the dangers roaming cats can face outdoors include: other cats or dogs in the neighbourhood can cause injuries, cars can cause injury or death, exposure to diseases and parasites, poisoning, animal cruelty, being eaten or injured by wildlife like coyotes. The average lifespan of an outdoor cat is about 5 years, compared to indoor cats, who according to The Humane Society can live to be 18 to 20 years old.

@CityofEdmonton - might you gather ideas/opinions via another method?

Public positing incites inflammatory responses by those who feel strongly one way or another and doesn't necessarily give you an accurate representation of the City as a whole.

Roaming cats are a nuisance to neighbours, a threat to birds and wildlife, can potentially spread diseases like Toxoplasmosis.

Cat owners should keep their cats indoors, enclosed on their own property or on a leash if taken off property.

Mandatory Spay/Neuter. Fines for abandonments, Fines for free-roam in town/city, prison time and public registry for animal cruelty cases.

Require Beekeepers to Update the Status of Their Licensed Sites

I'm curious to see how many licensed sites are active. I have two locations that I haven't had bees on in years. It might be worth asking beekeepers to confirm their registered sites' status (active/inactive). This would give the City an up-to-date list of active registered hives.

If It's Not Broke, Don't Fix It

Generally speaking, the City of Edmonton's beekeeping program is going very well, as indicated by very few complaints to the City of the Province. I think that the application process is fair and relatively easy to navigate. Current rules ensure that beekeepers have proper training and are beekeeping responsibly. I would caution the City against loosening beekeeping licensing requirements. The Provincial apiculturist received more complaints from Calgary, and Montreal is experiencing a decline is native pollinators due to an overabundance of honeybee colonies.

A clear position on the role of educational beekeeping projects whose primary purpose is not honey production, but education.

Educational beekeeping projects are not strictly “commercial” as the current Bylaw classifies them, and are not residential either, instead using 1 bee hive to inspire hundreds of people. Educational beekeeping projects are small-scale, managed by professionally trained beekeepers, and offer myriad benefits to the citizens of the City of Edmonton by raising awareness about our food systems, and the importance of insects, pollinators, and native plants for the function of our ecosystems. I believe that urban beekeepers should be advocates for these issues and furthermore, that educational projects should be allowed under the Animal Licensing and Control Bylaw as a new category distinct from “commercial” and “residential”. Indeed, based on the feedback I heard at the hearing on September 14th, 2023, it seems like some Edmonton beekeepers are obtaining permits for their educational projects (despite those projects not being strictly "residential"), while others like my own are denied permits for doing the same work. Having sought clarity on this issue in the past and attempting to register all of my hives with the City of Edmonton, only to be told those hives were in violation of the Bylaw and would have to be removed, this a scenario I would like to avoid moving forward! Ultimately, there are multiple educational beekeeping projects already present in the City of Edmonton, and the permitting rules should be equally applied to all of us.

A simplified permitting process, especially as it relates to registering multiple sites, using Calgary’s recent by-law changes as an example

Currently, the City of Edmonton requires hives to only be located in the rear yard of a property, at least 25 metres away from any public place, including but not limited to playgrounds, sports fields, churches or schools. Hive entrances must be directed away from adjacent residential properties, and hives should be located at least three metres from all property lines where there is an adjacent neighbour, unless the property is separated from the adjacent neighbour by a solid fence or vegetative hedge at least 1.5 metres high. These guidelines might be reasonable, if restrictive, requirements for hives installed on the ground, but they do not seem appropriate for rooftop installations and other low-traffic sites. I would recommend that Calgary’s bylaw requirement of a site plan for each apiary be adopted instead, or that more lenient requirements be established for rooftop and low-traffic areas. Reasonable restrictions create scenarios where beekeepers are more likely to register their hives, and can also easily access proper resources and mentorship to ensure those hives stay healthy. Furthermore, I believe the current neighbour notification letter requirements should not be enforced for rooftop hives and low-traffic sites. Instead, more emphasis should be put on proper hive placement. For reference, Vancouver’s guidelines are excellent.

Recipe for successful integration of honey bees in the City of Edmonton with a strong focus on honey bee health and IPM

Select Edmonton beekeepers and educators were invited to participate in the pilot project to work with the City to help develop guidelines for commercial beekeeping before Alvéoles came on the scene. Those chosen to participate are not profiting or monetizing from the industry and are closely working with the City both in choosing sites to participate and using them for the purpose of developing these guidelines. Participation outside of this pilot project is not permitted for safety reasons until these guidelines are established to prevent expansion that could potentially be detrimental to the success of the program. Despite this being made known to Alvéoles, a third party company not local to Alberta seeking to sell beekeeping services to businesses at commercial sites, Alvéoles has persisted with expansion growing their operation to over 87 sites in Edmonton (as mentioned on the Alvéoles website) prior to the completion of these preliminary steps. As discussed in the stakeholder meeting, this poses potential threats to native bees and honey bees in the urban scene when colonies are popping up at a rate that is not in alignment with natural honey bee growth or sustainable.

Things working well

Things that have worked well: -ample outdoor run area (coop design) and ventilation -covered enclosure during HPAI -educational course requirements are appropriate and useful -predator resistant run recommended in course -our neighbours seem to enjoy the eggs and have not expressed concern throughout our 3 years with hens in a very densely populated suburban neighbourhood

Neighbour permission should not be needed

No other pet needs to require a neighbour’s permission to own. It’s a dumb rule.

Waste disposal

I end up with too much waste bedding in the winter for the small green bins and every second week pickup. I really wish we could apply for a larger green bin, something similar to the black bins. It’s really difficult to take manure to the disposal centres in my car when excess builds up.

Greater number of hens allowable

If I could recommend changing anything, it would be to allow an increase in the number of hens. 6 is very few for our spacious coops in the winter (for warmth, really need to heat the coop) and as our hens age, they’re very much welcome to stay despite not laying, but we’d need a couple more to have reasonable eggs. The lower number may encourage a lot of people to cull their pets rather than keeping them into retirement. 8 -10 might be a more reasonable number to allow healthy succession cycle and integration of new pullets in pairs which is less stressful.

Having an increase to the number of hens would be beneficial, as well as the ability to have additional garbage pickup for coop deep cleans.

Coop needs a deep clean at least three to four times a year based on our coop size, and shavings do not fit into bins for the once a week pick-up for either black or green bins. I have at least 4-5 x-large garbage bags of shavings to dispose of and can’t store for the twice a year yard waste pick-up. Dropping off at eco station for disposal is also inconvenient. Would be great if the chicken keepers could leave their coop material out in clear bags with regular green bin pickup dates. A few more hens added to the amount currently would be great as young hens could be added to the flock as others stop egg production. We do not cull and allow the hens to live out the rest of their life as pets once they are too old to lay. Other than this, it has been a fantastic project and we really enjoy having them. Thanks to everyone involved, as we are one of the original families that participated in the pilot project!

keep as is

rabbits are not an issue keep things running the same as is

Rotating animals

It would be nice to have the ability to see sheep/ goats around the city eating the grass, weeds instead of seeing mechanical equipment clearing/ tiding up. Would also like to see them help out other development locations and not just in the parkland.