White Rock’s mayor wants the provincial government to sink its teeth into issues around aggressive dogs.
Monday, Wayne Baldwin got the backing of his fellow council members to do just that.
Council gave unanimous support – minus Couns. Louise Hutchinson and Helen Fathers, who were absent – to a motion by Baldwin to call on the province to help municipalities better deal with issues around aggressive breeds of dogs.
Baldwin brought the idea forward in light of last month’s pit bull attack on a four-year-old White Rock girl.
“We all know what this deals with,” he said in introducing the motion, referring to the Aug. 23 incident that resulted in Emma Cranford needing dozens of stitches after she was bitten in the face while at a family barbecue.
Emma’s parents, Elizabeth and Mike Cranford, have been calling for a province-wide ban on pit bulls ever since.
Baldwin’s motion did not go that far. He asked council to direct him “to write to the provincial government requesting they review issues around breeds of dogs known to be aggressive, including the pit bull breed.”
The issue, he said, is one that cities can’t effectively manage on their own.
As reasoning for the move, Baldwin cited community concern around certain breeds of dogs; the difficulty municipalities have in banning or taking action against certain breeds due to cross-breeding and other variants; and the strain on a city’s resources “to deal with the matter to this degree.”
“It’s just something that’s not within our resources to deal with adequately,” he said. “This is a practical solution to a difficult problem.”
The letter is being sent to the B.C. Minister of Justice this week.