Toronto cracking down on off-leash dogs

Thestar.com
June 4, 2015
By David Rider

Leash your dog, or risk getting bitten by a $360 fine, the City of Toronto is telling pet owners.

The city announced Thursday that, while last summer, it held a public education and enforcement blitz, this year the focus will be on “citywide enforcement.”

In Toronto, all dogs outside have to be leashed unless they are on their owner’s property or in one of the city’s 57 leash-free parks.

“A dog is considered running at large if it is unleashed, off its owner's property and not under its owner's control,” the city said in a news release.

“A fine of $360 can be issued for allowing a dog to run at large.”

Last year, enforcement officers investigated 829 reports of off-leash dogs and laid 161 charges. This year, so far, there have been 924 investigations and 39 people charged.

Other city rules prohibit dogs that have not been vaccinated, licensed and neutered from being in designated dog parts, and require owners to buy $25 annual licences for all dogs.

Toronto has struggled to get more people to license their pets. In 2011 the city’s auditor general found that only 30 per cent of dogs and 10 per cent of cats were licensed.

The city discontinued a program that saw summer students knocking on the doors of suspected pet owners, after negative feedback from residents.