Municipal District of Pincher Creek council has closed a regulatory gap between two of its bylaws, passing an amendment to the animal control bylaw after giving it all three readings the same day.

The amendment, Bylaw 1375-26, adds the “hamlet transitional agriculture” land-use designation to the animal control bylaw, adopted in June 2025, bringing it in line with the MD’s land-use bylaw.

The amended bylaw does not create a new set of animal control rules. Instead, it ensures the rules already in place also apply to the fewer than 10 hamlet transitional agriculture properties in the MD, said development officer Laura McKinnon.

“There were no enforcement challenges,” she said, noting the gap was caught by administration during a routine review rather than a real-world dispute.

McKinnon said residents in hamlet transitional agriculture locations will now follow the same guidelines as those in grouped country residential districts.

While the amendment directly affects a small number of landowners, the broader animal control bylaw applies across the municipality. It sets rules for keeping dogs, licensing dogs, keeping livestock and chickens, and keeping prohibited animals and bees.

Dogs

Under the bylaw, most households are limited to four dogs, though that number drops to three for anyone living in a hamlet, a grouped country residential district, the Castle Mountain Resort or hamlet transitional agriculture areas.

Households wanting to keep more dogs need a development permit for an animal care service, or must show the dogs are used for an agricultural purpose, such as herding or guarding livestock. Exceptions can also be made for dogs temporarily gathered for a cultural or community event.

Any dog six months or older kept in those same areas must be licensed with the municipality.

Owners must apply in person, providing a description of the dog, disclosing whether it has been spayed or neutered, and paying a fee. Licences and tags cannot be transferred to a new owner, and giving false information on an application is an offence.

The one-time licence fee is $15 for spayed or neutered dogs and $30 for unaltered dogs.

Owners must keep their dogs from running at large. The bylaw also sets rules for dogs left unattended in vehicles or on properties accessible to the public.

Owners are responsible for cleaning up dog feces, preventing excessive accumulation on their property and ensuring dogs do not create excessive noise that unreasonably interferes with another person’s enjoyment of property.

A separate section lists threatening behaviours owners must prevent, ranging from chasing bicycles to biting or attacking a person or another animal.

Working dogs actively engaged in livestock management are exempted from some of these provisions when the behaviour in question involves livestock.

Vicious dogs

The bylaw treats vicious dogs as a distinct category with tighter obligations.

A court process determines whether a dog is formally declared vicious. This generally happens when an animal has caused severe injury to a person.

The designation follows the dog even if it is sold or given to a new owner. Once declared vicious, a dog must be microchipped or tattooed, spayed or neutered, and licensed annually. This annual licence costs $250.

In some circumstances, an enforcement services supervisor or designate can require a dog to be surrendered for a behavioural assessment while the matter is before the court.

On its owner’s property, a vicious dog must be confined indoors or kept in a secure, properly built pen. Off the property, it must be muzzled and leashed on a line no longer than one metre, under the control of an adult.

The owner must also maintain a secure enclosure on their property and post warning signs at entrances and on the enclosure.

Livestock

Livestock rules vary by land-use district. Farm animals generally cannot be kept within a hamlet without a development permit.

In grouped country residential districts and hamlet transitional agriculture properties, the number of animals allowed is capped according to a schedule tied to parcel size, covering species such as horses, cattle, sheep and llamas.

For example, the bylaw allows up to five horses, cattle, swine, donkeys or mules per parcel, with the number also tied to available land. The limit is one such animal per 0.4 hectares, or one acre.

Sheep, goats, llamas and alpacas are limited to one per 0.2 hectares, or half acre, with a maximum of 10 per parcel. Rabbits are limited to one per 0.1 hectares, or quarter acre, with a maximum of 20.

The limits are not cumulative. A parcel cannot use the maximum allowance for multiple livestock categories at the same time.

Owners of properties where livestock are bred, raised or kept must keep the sites in clean condition and dispose of waste in a timely manner.

Chickens

Rules for chickens differ between hamlets and larger residential parcels.

In hamlets, residents can keep up to four urban chickens. As per the bylaw, an urban chicken is a hen that is at least 16 weeks old, with a hen defined as a domesticated female chicken.

Roosters and hens that do not meet the bylaw’s definition of an urban chicken are not permitted.

In grouped country residential districts, the number of chickens depends on the size of the parcel. The limits range from 30 chickens on parcels between three and 3.99 acres, to 45 chickens on parcels between four and 4.99 acres, 60 chickens on parcels between five and 5.99 acres, 75 chickens on parcels between six and 9.99 acres, and 90 chickens on parcels of 10 acres or more.

The amendment extends those same limits to hamlet transitional agriculture properties.

Chicken care comes with its own set of standards. Each chicken must have adequate coop and outdoor enclosure space, food, water, shelter, ventilation and veterinary care.

Coops and enclosures must be kept sanitary and secure. Owners must prevent rodents and other animals from entering and remove leftover feed, trash and manure in a timely manner.

Owners must also follow biosecurity procedures recommended by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and keep chickens for personal use only.

Other animals and enforcement

A short list of species remains banned outright anywhere in the municipality, including wild boars, Norway rats and venomous snakes.

Bees and beehives are also prohibited in hamlets, Castle Mountain Resort and grouped country residential districts, as well as within 500 metres of a hamlet or grouped country residential area. The amendment adds hamlet transitional agriculture to those restrictions.

Penalties for violations vary widely by offence.

For example, having more than three dogs in a hamlet, grouped country residential district or Castle Mountain Resort carries a minimum $200 penalty. An unlicensed dog also carries a minimum $200 penalty.

Running a dog at large has a minimum penalty of $300, while excessive accumulation of dog feces carries a minimum $400 penalty.

Penalties increase for more serious dog offences. The bylaw lists minimum penalties ranging from $500 for injuring a person to $1,200 for attacking a person and $1,700 for an attack causing severe injury. Some matters require a court appearance.

Vicious-dog offences carry higher penalties. Depending on the offence, minimum penalties range from $550 for several licensing or containment violations to $2,000 for a vicious dog causing the death of an animal or livestock. Attacks causing the death of a person require a court appearance.

Specified penalties can also increase when the same provision is breached repeatedly within a 12-month period.