A 10-year-old German shepherd named Jemma has been banished from West Vancouver.
Council voted Monday to uphold a decision to revoke the dog’s licence, despite a tearful last-ditch plea from Jemma’s owner.
Kimmia Abdollahi told council her family would like the old dog’s last days to be spent with her family.
But most council members said Jemma’s history of aggression and the owners’ refusal to follow the rules have made the dog unwelcome in the community.
Dog licences for dogs deemed aggressive can be revoked by the municipality after five tickets for not complying with bylaw regulations.
Those include keeping the dog in a secure enclosure on the owners’ property, and making sure the dog is muzzled and under control on a leash when out in public.
“It’s tough for us,” said Coun. Nora Gambioli, pointing to the lengthy report on aggressive incidents involving Jemma reported by the public.
The vote means Jemma’s owners now have to either give her up or put her down.
A vote to take away a dog licence hasn’t happened before in West Vancouver, said Jeff McDonald, spokesman for the municipality.
Most often owners comply with bylaw requirements, he said.
McDonald said it’s possible Jemma could go to another owner in West Vancouver, but they would have to reapply for a licence, when Jemma’s history would also be reviewed.
Jemma’s crimes and misdemeanours were detailed Monday in a report from bylaw manager Sarah Almas.
Starting in 2014, incidents included Jemma attacking smaller dogs in two separate incidents while she was being walked, as well as running loose in the neighbourhood of Wildwood Lane, and snapping at mail carriers and contractors.
One mail carrier’s complaint described Jemma taking several bites out of a bag of mail before being called back to the owners’ home.
Another resident reported being almost run at by Jemma in the lane, adding he has seen the dog running at large on multiple occasions.
Bylaw staff issued several tickets to the owners for failing to build an enclosure. Once the enclosure was built, bylaw officers said the dog did not appear to be kept in it as required. Further incidents pointed to Jemma not being properly under control when off the property, the report said.
Almas noted $2,500 in fines handed out to the owners haven’t been paid.
In her plea to council, Abdollahi took issue with some statements in the report, adding, “Dogs barking at strangers and some dogs not getting along is not abnormal behaviour.”
Coun. Bill Soprovich was alone in his willingness to give Jemma another chance.
“When I was seven years old a German shepherd bit into my calf,” he said, noting he pleaded with his family not to ask for the dog to be destroyed. “A year later I was walking that dog in the neighbourhood,” he said.
Soprovich said he was hopeful someone would step forward to adopt the dog.
Soprovich was the sole vote against upholding the decision to revoke Jemma’s dog licence.
McDonald said there’s a misconception that dog bylaws are about controlling dogs’ behaviour. “It’s really about controlling human behaviour,” he said. “It’s about allowing all dogs to peacefully exist in the community.”
