I regularly visit this area to visit my family in the Slocan Valley. Today I was waiting for my daughter in the car with my dog. It was too hot for me, and therefore too hot for my dog, so I took her out on a short leash. As it turned out, my daughter needed to wait for a photo to be developed, so we decided to go window shopping.
My dog was completely under control and not bothering anyone when a bylaw officer stopped and asked if I knew there was a bylaw against dogs downtown. I found that hard to believe. There are no such bylaws in any of the major cities I’ve been to or lived in. But apparently it’s the law in supposedly laid-back Nelson.
I asked the officer what would happen if I left my dog in the car and she died from the heat. Would I be charged? He had no answer. Ironically, we had just passed a large bowl of water on the sidewalk which had obviously been put there by the business owner for dogs to drink from.
Since leaving my dog in the Valley isn’t an option, I guess I will be leaving both her and myself in the Valley when the weather is hot (most of the summer) and spending my money there rather than in Nelson.
I understand now that there were real problems with the dogs when the bylaw was first passed, but it seems council took a sledgehammer to fix a problem that could have been fixed with a little tinkering.
Go after the people whose dogs are causing problems, not the ones who keep theirs under control.
Tia Leschke
Sooke