Montreal reports increase in aggressive dogs -- but also in pet ownership

The City of Montreal says there is an increase in the number of aggressive dog reports – but it also says it has recorded a significant increase in pet ownership since the start of the pandemic.

In 2022, a total of 482 complaints were made to the city about aggressive dog behaviours - up from 415 the year before.

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"The fact that there's more dogs being signalled at the city for aggressive behaviour, it’s an augmentation of 16 per cent, but all in all, if you take into consideration that we have 40 per cent more dogs in the area, well, that's relatively stable," said Montreal city spokesperson Philippe Sabourin.
 

The month of May has seen more incidents because more people are out and about with their dogs.

"If there's aggressive behaviour coming from a dog, call the city at 311. We will do a follow-up of every case. We will intervene with the dog owner, we will do the evaluation and everything will be put in place to contain this dog," said Sabourin.

Training the owner to follow the rules helps the dog, too.

Fines for dogs off leash are $750.

"When we're providing tickets, more than 400 times -- half of them -- is because there wasn't any leash and in 30 per of the time, there was no permit," said Sabourin.

The Montreal bylaw requires all dogs be licenced, micro-chipped and sterilized.