WATERLOO - Concerned about public safety, Waterloo may begin prosecuting dog owners who ignore safety orders imposed on their dangerous pets.

For 20 years Waterloo has sought to regulate aggressive dogs without charging owners. Sometimes this approach falls short.

"It is not uncommon for a dog owner to not fully comply with the conditions placed on their designation order," enforcement director Shayne Turner told council by report.

Waterloo council voted Monday to shift the focus on to the owner and away from the dog. This mirrors Kitchener, where dog owners are warned they may be charged and fined for not properly controlling a pet deemed dangerous.

"This way we can hold the owners accountable and lay charges," Turner said in an interview.

New powers approved Monday by council will:

•Let the city prosecute dog owners for not complying with an order;

•Give Kitchener-Waterloo Humane Society officers more flexibility to place conditions on dangerous dogs;

•Give city staff more authority to go on property and issue work orders. As an example, a fencing order could fall on the landlord as well as the dog owner, with costs possibly added to property taxes;

•Give city enforcement staff and humane society officers more discretion not to destroy a prohibited dog that's been seized or surrendered. The current bylaw requires destruction but in practice officials try to avoid this.

Waterloo's enforcement staff has discussed tougher rules with neighbourhood residents who have struggled with dangerous dogs.

Waterloo deals with fewer than a dozen dogs a year that must be designated as dangerous. "We're not seeing a large increase in the number of complaints," Turner said. "What we're doing is reacting to a gap in the bylaw."

New powers are an interim step while city staff prepare an updated bylaw on dangerous dogs. It's expected to go before council next year.

"We just felt that these are tools that we could do fairly quickly," Turner said.

Rules in place since 1998 establish a multi-step process to impose conditions on dogs that attack people or other dogs, or are deemed a serious concern.

A dog might be designated potentially dangerous before it is designated as dangerous and eventually as prohibited. Owners may appeal designations and orders.

If an owner disregards an order, all the city could do until Monday is to escalate the designation. When the designation reaches prohibited, the dog must be surrendered or it can be seized.

Recently in an east Kitchener neighbourhood, the humane society opened an investigation after a dog was reportedly attacked and killed by another dog, raising concerns about the safety of other pets and children.

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