A Pembina Valley city is changing what it considered to be a dangerous dog. The City of Winkler recently updated its bylaws to create dangerous dog legislation without banning specific breeds. “We’re trying to do this in a way that allows people to have the pets that they want, but to make sure that they’re responsible for those pets,” said Jody Penner, Winkler’s city manager. Winkler’s city council recently passed the second and third readings of the animal control bylaw. It allows the animal control officer to designate a dog as dangerous if they believe it is likely to cause harm or injury due to an incident, instead focusing on the behaviour of the dog and the owner and offering a range of consequences. Christina Von Schindler, the CEO of Winnipeg Humane Society, supports the breed-neutral bylaw. “We’ve been advocating for this for a long time. There’s no benefit in banning an entire breed of well-behaved dogs and responsible owners,” said Von Schindler. She said that while Winnipeg has robust dangerous dog legislation, it’s breed ban is often arbitrary and is based on visual assessments. Von Schindler said difficult to adopt out banned dogs because they need homes outside the city.
