Posted: June 15, 2021 City of Fernie council last night adopted a new Animal Responsibility Bylaw. The new bylaw is modelled after the BC SPCA’s Animal Responsibility Model Bylaws that promote best practices for a tiered approach to aggressive, vicious, and dangerous dogs as well as provisions for animal welfare, control, licensing, duties of animal owners, penalties, and enforcement. This bylaw replaces the old Animal Control Bylaw, which included breed-specific legislation and has now been repealed. The Animal Responsibility Bylaw No. 2436, 2021 focuses instead on animal behaviour and specific regulations for dogs that have been deemed aggressive, vicious, or dangerous. The bylaw also includes more provisions that better protect domestic animals in our community, including tethering standards of a maximum of one hour unattended; outdoor shelter requirements; regulations for transporting animals in the outside compartment of vehicles; and basic standards of care.