by Ian Elliot
Northern News Services

NNSL (Oct 08/97) - Your dog, your responsibility.

That's the bottom line on dog ownership in Yellowknife, where questions are again being raised about the onus on dog owners after a four-year-old boy was bitten about the head by a husky last month.

The attack took place in a fenced yard after the two boys unlatched a gate to let themselves in. No charges were laid against the owner because the dog had no history of aggression and, after interviewing the boys, investigators determined they had been teasing the dog.

The boy's mother dismisses the claim that the boys provoked the attack and is calling for the dog to be destroyed.

The city's municipal enforcement division investigates such cases and bylaw supervisory constable Larry Weber says there have been very few cases of overtly aggressive dogs in the city.

In those cases, a justice of the peace can order an animal destroyed, but that is rare, he says.

"In the five years I've been here that has never been done," he said this week.

"There have been two or three cases I can think of where we have had a problem with a dog, but in all those cases, the owners have agreed to have the animals put down. There has never been an occasion where we've had to get a court order."

Owners have to control their dogs at all times, he says, or else they will be charged.

"It is their responsibility to ensure the dog is on their property, either within a fence or on a chain," he said.

Problem animals are those which have displayed aggressive behaviour before, he says, and any animal that has previously chased or bitten a person or another pet falls into that category.

In such a case, with the testimony of witnesses, a JP can issue an order to have the dog destroyed. In lesser cases, the court can also levy fines or orders restricting the animal's behaviour in future.

The big bite, however, comes not from possible criminal proceedings but from a civil lawsuit filed by someone who is bitten by a dog whose owner did not take the necessary precautions to prevent such an attack.

The most common dog problems, Weber says, are more mundane: unlicensed or unvaccinated dogs, animals running at large on public property or people who ignore the city's poop-and-scoop bylaw.