A controversial issue in the town of Quispamsis is the animal control bylaw, which came under heavy fire during an emotional council meeting last month with much of the criticism surrounding the specific wording of the bylaw.
The town’s mayor-elect Gary Clark says a close look needs to be taken at the bylaw to see if there are improvements that can be made. We asked him if it was fair to say that he’s open to changing the bylaw.
“I’m open to having a look at the file and working with my new council, as you know I’m one voice, and I think we need to have all of the new council engaged,” says Clark. “Also I’d like to ask and talk to all of the council and hear their concerns and what they heard during the campaign, bring those forward also and work on these issues together.”
The outcome of the council meeting was that the council voted to refer the issue of animal control to staff for a review and to have a report brought back to the new council after the swearing in which is on May 24.
The town of Quispamsis has its own animal control officer which uses the services of the Greater Moncton SPCA which is considered to have a ‘high-kill’ rate at the shelter vs the Saint John SPCA which is considered to be a ‘low-kill’ shelter. There are over 1700 signatures to a change.org petition from 10 months ago which is looking to change the bylaw and support the Saint John SPCA.
