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The City of Calgary is looking to strengthen its rules for dealing with aggressive pets.
If adopted, the changes will streamline hearings, increase penalties for violations, and make it easier for officials to determine the ownership of problem animals and who’s responsible for them.
The Responsible Pet Ownership Bylaw was last amended in 2021. These latest changes come four years after an 86-year-old Calgary resident died in a dog attack.
Officials say the changes, approved by a council committee last week, are based on lessons learned from the past several years and the public’s desire for more accountability and increased safety.
“It’s a pretty common thing that we hear about — that folks are looking for more control over animals,” said Coun. DJ Kelly. “We get calls on the regular looking for the owners of these animals to be fined appropriately.”
In 2025 officials investigated approximately 600 violent incidents involving animals, almost half of which involved bites.
Designating dangerous animals
Changes are being proposed to address gaps in designating nuisance animals or vicious animals, something that Coun. Myke Atkinson says will allow for earlier interventions.
“You want to catch things before it becomes a big problem,” he said. “We had the lady in my ward, Ward 7, who unfortunately lost her life because we had some pets that were not dealt with early enough in the process.”
The amendments also update authorities’ ability to hold pets while nuisance or vicious animal designations are decided, and would also expand designations to situations where other animals — not just people — are harmed.
“This tightens it [the bylaw] up a lot more so as to make a safer city for the pets themselves, for the owners and for the community,” said Coun. Dan McLean.
The new rules also clarify that electronic leashes do not meet leash requirements.
Increases to penalties and prison terms
According to Kelly, maximum fines and penalties for aggressive animals are already established by provincial legislation and the changes to Calgary’s bylaw reflect these. The maximum penalty would be $10,000 and/or up to one year imprisonment.
“Heaven forbid, somebody dies or [is] mauled or scarred for life, that owner should take some responsibility and imprisonment. I’m good with that,” said McLean.
Under the current bylaw, two hearings occur in cases of aggressive animals: one determines what to do with the pet and the other deals with penalties for the owner, says Atkinson.
He says the amendments will allow those two matters to be dealt with at the same time.
According to Kelly, the changes replace a burdensome administrative process with one that operates more like a court.
“You have the ability to appeal, you have the ability to come in and make your case, and for a quasi judicial judge to make a determination,” he said.
Accountability of ownership
For Brad Nichols, director of enforcement and vice-executive director of the Calgary Humane Society, the changes are largely housekeeping, but he was pleased to see increased measures against reporting false information and obstructing the officers dealing with these cases.
Nichols says that beyond owners attempting to avoid penalties, this change addresses a growing concern where “many citizens seem to be passing off their animals as fake strays to get them effectively out of their homes.”
Nichols says that oftentimes nuisance animals stem from the behaviour of the owners, and that post-pandemic the humane society has seen an increase in animals that are unsocialized.
“When you get a pet there’s a responsibility that comes with it, and that’s not just to feed and water it. You need to train it. You need to socialize it,” said Nichols.
Overall, Nichols says he’s looking forward to seeing how these changes play out and believes that along with the incoming Animal Protection Amendment Act, which received royal assent in May, the two pieces of legislation should improve effective animal-related enforcement.
Council will vote on the bylaw amendments on Tuesday.