A petition has been delivered to the Cariboo Regional District (CRD) calling for leash laws to be enacted for the Walker Valley, 108 Mile and Sepa Lake trails - but there are questions about local support for the initiative.
The petition, which was delivered to the CRD and received during the May 23 board meeting held in Williams Lake, calls for enacting bylaws requiring all dogs be on a leash when accessing the 108 Mile/Sepa Lake Trails, as well as portions of the Walker Valley, provide an e-bike to bylaw officers which would allow them to access the trails quickly and easily, and signs at every entry way with the expectations of trail etiquette and showcasing the local wildlife.
Heidi Lier, who helped organize the petition, stated in her submission to the CRD that the trails are getting busier by the day and as a result her family and others who use the 108 trail system are "struggling."
"Many refuse to use the trail out of safety concerns not being addressed by the CRD. People feel like they are hitting a wall when complaining," Lier wrote in the petition. "CRD, as our governing body, you can no longer shove these issues to the Conservation Officer. If the CRD took the time to read people's stories and comments online, as well as the messaging in this petition, you would recognize that change is needed in a multitude of ways."
The complaints listed in the petition mainly centre around off-leash dogs and the amount of traffic that is occurring at the 108 Mile/Sepa Lake Trails and the Walker Valley in general. An increase in the population of deer was also given as a reason to enact some form of leashing requirements.
"At the end of the day, the CRD and greenbelt have been taking the time and our tax dollars to bring more traffic to our area and our trails. But what you haven't done, from what we can see, is given much thought or care as to how that will impact all your locals. Wildlife and human," Lier said.
Al Richmond, the CRD's director for Area G, which covers the 108 Mile Ranch as well as the affected trails, said CRD staff analyzed the petition, which had been signed by around 200 people.
"Thirty-five of those are from the 108 - some as far away as England. So there wasn't a lot of interest in the 108, but there was a significant amount of interest on social media," said Richmond. He went on to state that it was difficult to have a leash bylaw without an animal control bylaw already in place.
"If you don't have an animal control bylaw, you can't pick the dogs up. So we went to a referendum many years ago for dog control in the 108, and it was thoroughly defeated at the referendum. People didn't want dog control," Richmond said.
He added that while time has passed since the referendum, the costs of doing another one would be higher today.
"I would anticipate these costs today would be significantly higher, perhaps double that, given inflation and the other things that occurred, and anything like that, would have to go to referendum in order to get public assent, to provide a new service," explained Richmond.
He further added there isn't a widespread desire in the 108 for an animal control or leash bylaw, citing a meeting with the 108 Mile Ranch Community Association in late May.
"I did meet with the 108 Mile Ranch Community Association executive and asked them about that. And they also were not in favour of animal control or leash bylaw. Most of us believe that the problem is that people need to control their dogs, and it's a people problem, not necessarily a dog problem," Richmond explained.
He added he believed the RCA's opposition came from their belief that they live in a rural community, so they do not wish to see those animal control bylaws in place there.
Richmond lastly said the answer to the problem of dogs running on other people's property is to call local conservation officers.
"The same or similar problem we have in Walker Valley, if they are in there, when the cows are in there, the Livestock Protection Act allows the rancher to destroy them, and they will be destroyed. Dogs have been shot in the past in Walker Valley for chasing cattle, and there's no warning," Richmond explained.
The simplymastery reached out to Lier, who said she is waiting to hear back from the CRD before making any additional comments.
