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Saskatoon city council pulled back the reigns on a proposed amendment to the city animal control bylaws Monday afternoon.
The change would have made it so that Saskatoon dog owners could have just a maximum of four dogs in the off-leash dog parks at a time. But, councillors put a leash on that recommendation from committee.
Richard Dietner is the owner and operator of Alpha Adventures Off-Leash Pack Walks. He said he has about 25 to 30 full-time clients and uses the off-leash dog parks to continue training his pack.
Dietner said as a professional dog walker, the recommendation made him feel overlooked.
“I don’t think (the city) realized we have professional dog walkers in the city. I mean, the last five years it’s just exploded with people coming with dogs,” he said.
“I think they overlooked us, not on purpose, but I just don’t think they knew we were here.”
During the council meeting, Dietner floated the idea of a special permit system for professional dog walkers in the city. The idea would allow himself, and other professional dog walkers in Saskatoon, the opportunity to bring more dogs into the parks than a regular dog owner.
Council listened and has asked the city to report back on different ways they can exempt professional dog walkers from the proposed rule change.
When walking his dogs, he says he walks between 15-20 at a time.
Donauer says Dietner isn't the problem, but others are.
Asks how regulation should be handled. #yxe #yxecc
— brady lang (@BradyLangSK) February 24, 2020
Additionally, they passed a change that will allow the city to consult with professional dog walkers on future items. That’s a change that’s welcomed by Dietner.
“We were totally excluded this time around, so to be included in that would be perfect,” he said.
Dietner said the extra licensing that will now be studied by city administration is a “pretty good idea.”
“Not a lot of people have the expertise that myself and some of the other people in the city do when it comes to training and working with people’s dogs.”
An additional amendment to the bylaw was passed by city council Monday afternoon, which will allow the city to ban dogs from off-leash dog parks after three instances of nuisance behaviour.
