Proposed amendments to Toronto’s dangerous dogs bylaw heading to city council

A new standardized sign that must be visibly posted on the property of all Toronto dogs under a dangerous dog order.

A number of steps aimed at strengthening Toronto’s dangerous dogs bylaw will be considered by city council later this month.

Requested last November by Toronto-Danforth Coun. Paula Fletcher, these amendments to Chapter 349 of the Toronto Municipal Code include requiring signage be posted on the door of all homes with a Dangerous Dog order as well as the creation of a comprehensive online registry for dangerous dogs in the city, one that includes details about the severity of each incident.

The Ward 19 councillor also proposed at the April 8 Economic and Community Development Committee that the city issue letters outlining these changes to the owners of dangerous dogs who live in condos and to the property management groups of buildings where the canines in question reside.

The matter passed at committee on Tuesday.

“Bylaw officers would then deliver and complete compliance checks to ensure signage is posted,” Fletcher wrote in an April 7 news release.

The east-end representative said she’s making these requests after two residents of her ward – a woman and a young boy – were mauled by dogs in 2023.

Fletcher noted that when city inspectors visited every address with a Dangerous Dog order last year, they found that condominium rules in most buildings prohibited the posting of any kind of signage.

“The signage is important as it allows all residents to scan a QR code to ensure that Dangerous Dog owners are meeting requirements such as muzzling the dog when outside the owner’s premises or being prohibited from using the City’s off-leash areas,” Fletcher said.

“This continuing initiative is all about protecting public health and safety.”

She added that an online dangerous dogs registry suggestion would serve as a “tool to help proactively alert [residents] to dangerous dogs in their neighbourhood.”