A bylaw limiting Qualicum Beach residents to owning only two dogs has one resident up in arms — and council backing off fast.

In a letter to the municipality, Rene Kraft said she was shocked when she learned of the bylaw.

“A friend told me she felt she couldn’t move to Qualicum Beach because she had three dogs and you are only allowed two in Qualicum Beach,” Kraft said in an interview. “I only have one, so I never worried about it.”

The bylaw states that no dwelling unit shall keep or have in their possession more than two dogs over the age of three months. Where any owner possesses or harbours three or more dogs they shall be deemed to own a kennel, subject to the current land use and subdivision bylaw ... and shall be subject to the current business licence bylaw.

In her letter to council, Kraft suggested people should be allowed to have three or even four dogs before they are classified in this manner.

“Don’t you think that’s a little restrictive, considering many people have three or four dogs that they love and cherish?” she asked. “If it’s noise they’re concerned about, two dogs can make as much, if not more, noise than four dogs. It really depends on the owners and how they handle them.”

Qualicum Beach Mayor Teunis Westbroek suggested the issue could prove a hot potato.

“Dog issues are usually pretty big in this town,” he said. “I propose we refer it to the residents’ associations for comment. We would like their input on this as well.”

Lance Nater, a spokesperson for the Qualicum Beach Dog Owners’ Group (QBDOG) said he is torn by the issue.

“My personal feeling is that if you look at the makeup of Qualicum Beach, it has a myriad of housing, including condominiums, apartments, some five acre plus lot and more typical subdivision lots,” he said, “so to me, the question of how many dogs should a household be allowed to have really depends on where that household is.

“To me, a blanket two dogs per household is probably unreasonable. If I live on a five acre property where I have room to exercise them properly, why should I be limited?”

On the other hand, he said, residents of subdivisions such as Eaglecrest or Chartwell likely don’t have a large enough lot to keep more than two dogs.

“With respect to the public areas, dog parks and trails, my experience is if anyone shows up there with more than two dogs, it’s inappropriate for a couple of reasons,” Nater said. “They only have two eyes and can’t watch that many dogs. As well, they might not have the ability if there is a skirmish between dogs, to break that up.”

Council agreed unanimously to send the issue to the residents’ associations for comment.

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