Man with large snake prompts Mattawa to reconsider outdated animal bylaw
Northern Ontario town's attempts to change animal bylaw has sparked debate on backyard chickens
A man with a large snake has prompted Mattawa town council to reconsider its animal bylaws.
"There's an individual that comes into town with a rather large snake," explained town CAO Raymond Belanger. "Every time he's in town... the phone starts ringing."
"We get inundated with phone calls that people are fearful, concerned, and scared, and they've asked the town to take a stance on it," he said.
The problem is the municipality doesn't have any rules preventing someone from walking around town with a boa constrictor.
Belanger told CBC News many of Mattawa's animal control bylaws are decades, even centuries old. Current regulations are so outdated, they deal with where horses are permitted in town.
"The municipality is trying to develop one bylaw to fit everything...and give our enforcement officer the teeth that he needs to enforce it," he said.
Local woman starts petition to keep backyard chickens and rabbits
Mattawa resident Chanelle Davidson recently petitioned Mattawa town council to take a closer look before passing the new animal bylaw.
Davidson raises chickens and meat rabbits in her backyard and was worried her small collection of livestock would become illegal.
Council was surprised to learn there were multiple families raising chickens in their backyards, Davidson said.
"I've never had any neighbour complain," Davidson said. "In fact, before all this came up I would say 95 per cent of the town didn't even know I had animals in my backyard," she said.
"Nowadays when you shop in the grocery store, you don't know what you're getting. It's important to me to know my eggs are hormone free and my meat is 100 per cent natural."
Municipalities across Canada struggling with animal bylaws
Municipalities across Canada have struggled to update outdated animal control bylaws, as urban farming and backyard chicken coops become increasingly popular.
In northern Ontario, both Sudbury and Thunder Bay have been looking to change their animal bylaws. Earlier this month Thunder Bay council vetoed an urban chicken bylaw.