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HomeBylaw and Animal ServicesAnimal ServicesResponsible Pet Ownership
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Responsible Pet Ownership

All pets within our region must be licensed.

The Responsible Pet Ownership bylaw holds animal owners responsible and accountable for the activities of their pets and allows Bylaw Services to work with pet owners to ensure that dogs, cats, their owners, and the neighbors live together harmoniously and safely.

License your pets

It is a pet owner's lawful duty to register pets within one business day of becoming a pet owner or taking up residency within the Municipality.

You may register your pet online at pay.rmwb.ca. Or download and fill out the application form and visit a cashier counter located at one of the following locations:

  • Timberlea Landing at 309 Powder Drive
  • Jubilee Building at 9909 Franklin Avenue 
  • RCMP 105 Paquette Drive
  • Bylaw Services 150 MacLennan Crescent

Forms, information and support are also available at the cashier counters. 

Fees for pet licensing are as follows:

  • Unaltered animal licences are $50 per year.
  • Altered (spayed or neutered) animal licences are $15 per year. 
  • If you have lost your animal's tag, please call Pulse at 780-743-7000 or toll-free at 1-800-973-9663

There are many benefits to licensing your pets. Should your pet ever get lost or in the unlikely, yet possible, event of an emergency or evacuation, a registered pet is easily identifiable and returned to its owners as quickly as possible.

Through compliance, having the most accurate pet population documented can identify the needs for our region in terms of recreational pet services, health services, as well as emergency response services.

The potential penalty for having an unlicensed pet is $150.00.

Basic care requirements

Pet owners must ensure an animal is provided with:

  • love; no person shall do anything to tease, torment, annoy, abuse or injure any animal
  • clean water
  • pet food
  • appropriate exercise
  • sanitary shelter
  • appropriate care if animal show any sign of pain, injury, illness, or suffering

Outside animals must have a clean, structurally sound shelter that protects from wind, heat, cold, wet and the direct rays of the sun, as well as clean food and water

Tethered animals must have a tether is a minimum of three metres in length, unrestricted movement within the range of the tether, shelter within range of the tether, as well as clean food and water

Only four pets (cats and dogs) are permitted in any home to a maximum of six with special permission from Bylaw Services.

Lost and found animals

If your pet has escaped and is now lost, it could be with Animal Control. Our lost and found pets photo gallery displays photos and descriptions of cats and dogs that have been found in the community.

Any lost or found animals can be reported to Pulse at 780-743-7000.

Animals at large

Occasionally pets can escape the safety of their permitted property and become “at large” as per the Responsible Pet Ownership Bylaw. By having your pets licensed and wearing an issued licence tag, pets are easily identified and can be returned home. If you see a pet at large, do not approach it unless it comes to you and appears to have a soft, relaxed, and happy demeanor. Contact Bylaw Services to report the at large animal so it can be returned home safe and sound, as quickly as possible.

Pets in public

Pets must always be on a leash when outside their owner's or guardian's property, unless at an off-leash park.

If any animal defecates on a property that is not the owner's property, the owner must remove the waste immediately. There are a few options for proper disposal of animal waste:

  1. Double bag your animal waste and put it into a park garbage bin.
  2. Keep that pet waste and put it in a Green Cone composter.
  3. Double bag your animal waste and take it to the municipal landfill located 8.5 kilometres south on Highway 63. Animal waste drop-off is free of charge.

Even the most adorable pets have their moments. Be responsible for your pets and help prevent pet safety issues. No animal can attack, threaten, harass, chase, bite or injure any person or other animal.

Pet waste

Dog defecation causes an unsightly mess when left in open spaces, parks and along pathways and can also pose a health concern. Bylaw Services receives many complaints from concerned citizens regarding dog owners that simply walk away after their dog has defecated rather than stopping to clean up after their dogs.

Please be a responsible dog owner and help keep your community clean by picking up after your pet.

Under the Responsible Pet Ownership Bylaw, the fine for not cleaning up pet waste on public property is $250 and if you do not have means to collect the waste, meaning no poop bags, that is a further $100 fine.

Nuisance animal

A Nuisance Animal means any animal that has been declared a Nuisance Animal under the Responsible Pet Ownership Bylaw by Bylaw Services.

When an animal is subject to three or more convictions under the Responsible Pet Ownership Bylaw within the past five years, they may be declared a Nuisance Animal by Bylaw Services.

Vicious animal

A Vicious Animal means any animal that has been declared a Vicious Animal under the Responsible Pet Ownership Bylaw or has been the subject of an order pursuant to the Dangerous Dogs Act.

Exotic Animals, livestock and prohibited animals

Livestock, fowl or fur-bearing animals, (other than domestic pets), are not permitted in any residential districts. However, horses, donkeys, goats, llamas, alpacas, and other similar animals may be kept as pets or for personal enjoyment on lots of greater than 0.809 hectares in the residential districts of Saprae Creek, Conklin, Draper, Janvier and Anzac; and a maximum of three horses is permitted on any single lot where the Development Authority is satisfied that the animals are confined.


 

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Contact Us

Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo
9909 Franklin Avenue
Fort McMurray Alberta T9H 2K4

Phone: 780-743-7000

Toll free: 1-800-973-9663

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