Pet stores, pet owners face tighter rules in Newmarket

New bylaw prohibits sale of cats, dogs in stores except if they are for adoption from shelters

Yorkregion.com
July 7, 2020
Kim Zarzour

No more doggie-in-the-window for Newmarket.

No more tethering pups in the yard for hours on end.

And no more guessing which out of a zillion breeds of lizard are allowed as household pets.

It’s all part of comprehensive new bylaws approved by town council to provide better protection for pets -- and animal advocates are, for the most part, pleased.

Ontario municipalities in recent years have implemented laws to crack down on puppy mill operators and abuse of domestic pets.

Councillors voted June 29 to approve an updated Animal Control Bylaw for stronger regulations on the care and control of all animals.

It includes the town’s first pet store licensing regime prohibiting the sale of cats and dogs in stores unless they are for adoption from shelters, humane societies, or recognized animal rescue groups.

“We put a strong focus on the care and control of the animals as well dealing with what types of cages are required to be used in stores, access to food, water, exercise, not being [displayed] in windows where it can get hot,” said Flynn Scott, the town’s manager of regulatory services.

A grandfathering clause means any store that has existing inventory or commitments to source cats or dogs (or any other animals now prohibited through the Permitted Animals List), will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis to determine the length of time they are permitted to sell them before being required to comply. They’ll have up to six months to phase them out.

Keith Burgess, owner of Pet Paradise at Davis Drive and Leslie Street, is concerned the new ban will push customers to buy pets from online puppy mills.

Some people don’t want a shelter dog and may turn to disreputable sources online instead, he said.

Scott said the town may reconsider the idea six months from now.

“Town staff recognize that many municipalities licence breeders/kennels as a business and permit them to operate,” he said. “Phase 2 will involve council’s consideration to amend the zoning bylaw to permit breeders/kennels. If zoning amendments are approved, the town will then consider licensing breeders/kennels as a business.”

That’s not an ideal solution, said Aurora resident Rita Goverde.

“It would be a huge step back,” said Goverde, who helped organize a local petition in 2018. “Some breeders are ethical and some are not. But there are not enough laws on kennels and breeders to ensure it.”

Lisa Ugolini, a Newmarket resident, shared that concern in a submission to the town.

Allowing breeders and kennels to operate is a “slap in the face to animal advocates trying to do right by these animals,” she said. “This is a ban that should have been in place years ago. These voiceless creatures deserve better.”

The town has also adopted a list of permitted pets. In the past, Newmarket, and most municipalities, had a prohibited list, but deputations to the town voiced concern that prohibiting certain pets opened the door to owning animals not listed.

The new bylaw allows non-poisonous amphibians and arachnids (not from the tarantula family of spiders), birds that comply with provincial and federal regulations, domestic cats, dogs, rabbits, mice, rodents and ferrets; hedgehogs, chinchillas, degus, gerbils, guinea pigs, hamsters, ornamental fish except for wild-caught; reptiles including bearded dragons, geckos, iguanas and lizards provided they are non-poisonous, nonvenomous and less than 30 centimetres; snakes that are nonvenomous and nonconstrictive and less than 45 cm. (Previously the town allowed snakes to be up to two metres in length.)

“A lot of the argument is just it's easier to read,” Scott said. “There can be 6,000 species of say, types of lizards The goal is to be a little more specific.”

In six months that list will also be reviewed and there will be a grandfathering clause so people won’t have to give up their pets.

Tethering restrictions have also been significantly strengthened, Scott said.

Animals may only be tethered outside for three hours -- not the previously allowed four.

If a bylaw officer drives past three times in a day and sees the same animal tethered outside, this counts as three hours. A fourth observation will result in a fine.

Tethers must be a minimum of three metres with unrestricted movement allowing animals access to food, water, shelter, and shade and certain collars (e.g. choke chains) will not be allowed.