The City of St. Albert has taken the dog bylaws to an extreme.
Peaceful Sunday afternoon walk through J.J. Nearing School playground – peace officer comes tearing (yes, it was going fast and the lights were flashing) across the sidewalk into the middle of the park – first instinct is it’s an emergency for them to risk hitting a child that is running in the playground. Wrong! It’s because a dog off leash and its owner in an area away from other people were playing with each other! What has happened to our community that we resort to making it a criminal action to have a dog?
A cat owner can let their cat poop wherever it wants, like in the school playground sand areas – are they fined for not picking up its poop? Are they fined when the cat comes and sprays your screen door? Are cat owners fined when the cat comes and tortures and kills the wild birds eating at feeders? Why are cat owners not treated the same as dog owners? Why do cat owners not have to get a licence for their cat? Why are they not held responsible?
I think it’s time the City of St. Albert realign its bylaws to include all domestic animals that are not caged. That cat owners are held responsible for their pets. That the peace officers park on the street and walk. Oh yes, the public garbage can in this park – it’s been covered with plastic and duct taped closed since January. I am truly disgusted to say that I live in St. Albert.
Sandra Baird, St. Albert
