Dog laws need review

It’s high time that Surrey council reviewed its bylaws regarding pit bulls and any other potentially vicious dogs.

While it seems requisite for some people to own a pit bull in order to live “a full Surrey life,” these types of dogs should never be owned by irresponsible people. In fact, a good argument could be made that such people shouldn’t own animals of any kind.

Young Sean Bajwa, who was attacked on Sunday afternoon while he was playing at the Cedar Hills Elementary playground, gets it — perhaps more clearly than many adults. He was mauled by a pit bull and received more than 100 stitches. Interviewed on Tuesday in the hospital, he said he does not blame the dog for attacking him — he puts the blame squarely on the owner.

The owner met with the SPCA on Tuesday night and agreed that the dog should be put down. While that takes care of this particular dog, which now has a record of attacking, what about all the others?

Former neighbours of mine had 14 pit bulls. There were several adult dogs — four to six of them, along with a litter of puppies.

According to Surrey’s current bylaw, no one except people with a hobby kennel licence should have more than two dogs at their residence. My neighbours obviously didn’t care about the bylaw. More importantly, it appeared that the SPCA and the city didn’t care either. They visited the home on numerous occasions, but the dogs always remained.

These particular dogs regularly ran all over the neighbourhood, including my property. I personally chased them out of my yard on more than one occasion. One of the residents of the home regularly wandered up and down the street. looking for the dogs.

I don’t understand why the city and the SPCA were so reluctant to remove these dogs. They obviously were not being kept in their yard. To the best of my knowledge, they didn’t attack anyone, but the potential for trouble was there. The owners were not abiding by the current bylaw, but that didn’t seem to make any difference.

I know that people love their dogs, and there is no reason that responsible pet owners can’t continue to own dogs. I’m not sure a province-wide ban on pit bulls in the answer. However, anyone who owns a dog should be capable of restraining the dog, on and off their property.

The current dog bylaws need a good review, and the SPCA and the city need to commit to enforcing whatever laws are on the books.

On another ongoing city issue, I don’t believe the garbage and recycling problems of earlier this year are totally resolved. While service is better, a few problem spots remain.

On my street, pickup day is Friday. People who put out garbage and recycling containers on one side of the street had theirs picked up on Friday. Those on the other side waited until Monday. This kind of delay is incomprehensible and unacceptable.

There are also ongoing complaints that some crews are throwing all the garbage, compost and recycling together in one truck. Why should residents take the time to buy special bins, put stickers on them and sort recycling if it is all going to be treated as garbage?

International Paper Industries needs to provide some answers as to why these situations occur.

* * *

Congratulations are in order to Jim KIng, the outgoing executive director of the Surrey Crime Prevention Society, who was named good citizen of the year on Monday. The 30-year resident of Surrey has been involved in many endeavours here and gives more than 100 per cent to every cause he’s involved with.

I had the privilege of working on a committee with him several years ago and was very impressed by his passion and dedication. It’s sad that he’s leaving Surrey as he retires, as we could certainly use more of his energy. However, our loss is Osoyoos’ gain.

-30-