Saanich council has agreed to postpone discussion of the contentious issue of dogs on beaches and off-leash areas until mid-July, to allow the Cadboro Bay Residents Association time to conduct community consultation.
The unanimous decision came on the heels of a Jan. 27 report by Coun. Karen Harper that recommended staff review the current bylaws regarding beach use and dogs. The report proposed limits on off-leash use of the eastern portion of Cadboro Bay’s shoreline.
“We’ve already had substantial dialogue on this issue and it’s only starting,” Coun. Karen Harper said during a special council meeting Monday night. “With the Cadboro Bay Residents Association reaching out to ask for time to try to work through the issues found in the report with the community, more dialogue will obviously occur, which is a good thing and is very much needed.”
Her report led to a packed Saanich council chambers last week. Many people had written letters opposing Harper’s proposal.
Coun. Colin Plant said he was interested to see what the community can come up with.
“This is an opportunity to say to the community association: ‘We want you to help us, we believe in you and we want to work with you,’” said Plant.
Coun. Judy Brownoff said she supported the motion because of the community association’s past work, particularly on raising environmental awareness. “This is a community that, over the years, has done things like restored the heron rookery at Mystic Pond and now there are many more heron nests in the Cadboro Bay area.”
Mayor Fred Haynes, who said he fielded “interesting phone calls” on the issue, said working on solutions with community members is the “correct way forward.”
Harper contends that migratory birds and shorebirds are threatened by continuous chasing by dogs. Even deep-water diving ducks are disturbed when trying to feed near shore, said her report.
Herons, which nest at Mystic Vale, are a prime target for dogs, wrote Harper. The hatchlings must be fed from April on and juvenile herons learn to fish at Cadboro Bay, which is a spawning habitat for herring, surf smelt and sand lance.
Dogs disturb sand flats and shallows at lower tides, diminishing the birds’ ability to forage. Heavy traffic, as well as dog feces and urine, reduces the hatch rate of the eggs, Harper’s report said.
Dogs and their owners also trample the berm of dune grass and important Indigenous plants, which encourages the growth of invasive non-native plants, it said.
Off-leash dogs also raise safety issues for both the public and Saanich staff, wrote Harper, adding off-leash areas are sometimes feared by the elderly, parents with toddlers, those with disabilities and others.
Many people allow their dogs to run through adjoining Gyro Park to get to the off-leash area, which can lead to conflict and “presents danger to children in the playground,” wrote Harper, who questioned whether any off-leash dog can be considered truly under control.
Since 1997, the eastern portion of Cadboro Bay’s shoreline has been the only urban sandy beach in Saanich that is a year-round off-leash area and it is “deluged” in the summer when other beaches, such as Willows Beach in Oak Bay, are closed to dogs, said Harper.
Another issue that has emerged is belligerent owners, which is one reason Saanich animal-control officers now go to beaches only in pairs, she said in her report. It also increases their protection from dogs, she said.
