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Spat between neighbours goes to the dogs

A woman who says she's called bylaw officers at least 100 times to complain about at large dogs roaming around her property is now bypassing city hall and taking her concerns online.

Kelly Pottinger, a Taltheilei Drive resident, lives two lots away from a Happy Pooch, a pet service that offers grooming, a kennel-free dog hotel and off-leash pack walks.

When the business set up shop some four years ago, Pottinger said she would notice, sporadically, off-leash dogs exiting the owner's backyard in pairs or groups.

Pottinger said she gave the owner, Tiarella Hanna, benefit of the doubt and didn't think much more of it until she observed more frequent roaming canines.

“I see the dogs every morning, running off property, going back to the woods and then going back to her property,” said Pottinger.

“I said okay. That's it. I'm putting this on YouTube.”

Pottinger, believing Hanna is putting her own dogs' safety at risk by breaking a bylaw, began recording and posting videos of Hanna walking with groups of dogs – some leashed and some not – to a YouTube channel dubbed “Arctic Loft.”

Overlaid with a text, the videos apparently show Hanna violating the bylaw by having dogs under her care at large.

The bylaw defines at-large dogs as “where a dog is at any place other than the property of the owner or permitted property and is not under the immediate control of a competent and responsible person.”

With some dogs in large groups running ahead of Hanna or lagging behind her during walks, Pottinger said there's no way she can adequately see and control all of the animals under her care.

In one video posted on Jan.8 titled "Wow! Dogs, Dogs, Dogs" Pottinger uploads footage from May 8, 2017, which appears to show upwards of 10 unleashed dogs playing in a green-space area – property owned by the city – momentarily before being joined by an employee who enters the frame.

photo courtesy of Tiarella Hanna
Tiarella Hanna, owner of Happy Pooch pet service, maintains her off-leash dog pack walks are within the boundaries of the the City's by-laws.

Moments later, MED is on the scene, responding to a call from Pottinger.

Pottinger claims bylaw officers have visited the property at least 20 times following up on her calls, and while she says officers “do their best,” she feels her complaints are going nowhere.

“So I asked them, 'Does something have to happen to me, my daughter or my dog? Or a customer's dog?' Well they just put it off ... that's how it feels,” said Pottinger.

After losing a dog in an attack by another neighbor's dog years ago, Pottinger is concerned about the safety of her dogs if one should run into an at-large dog.

And, she said, a recent spotting of a wolf and a fox have her worried about the well being of the dogs under Happy Pooch's care, too.

Happy Pooch's owner Hanna told Yellowknifer Pottinger's fears are misplaced.

“All the dogs I'm taking off leash are thoroughly screened. Some of the dogs I've been taking for five or six years. I know them. I've never had a conflict with other dogs. I'm really proud of that,” said Hanna.

Hanna also takes exception to Pottinger's use of the term “off leash,” citing the by-law which allows dogs to be off-leash – city-wide – granted they are kept under control.

Through the use of loud whistles and pack strategizing, Hanna said she's confident in her ability to control the dogs she cares for.

“I do maintain that I'm in accordance with all the city bylaws,” she said, adding she feel she's a “compassionate neighbour,” who is actively involved in the community.

According to the city's director of public safety Dennis Marchiori, “leashes aren't required as long as the dog owner maintains a visual of the dog and it's under the control through voice command, it's not deemed to be at large.”

Marchiori added when it comes down to distances between dogs and dog owners, it's up to the discretion of the bylaw officer.

“If they're out of sight but not that out of sight ... dogs are dogs. But if (a dog) is half a kilometre away and you're not even close to it then that's a different situation,” Marchiori said.

Answering to the videos Pottinger has been using as the basis of her claims, Hanna there's not enough evidence to demonstrate she left dogs under take care at large by leaving their sight – regardless of what the limited video shows.

“I don't think that any of that can be interpreted from a video because there's a very varied landscape behind my house,” Hanna said.

Hanna does admit she has been fined – once.

“There was a fine, about a year ago, I paid the fine uncontested but in no way does this admit guilt. I paid the fine because I wanted to resolve the matter as quickly and peacefully as possible,” she said.

Hanna told Yellowknifer she has a “good relationship” with the city and that she had sat down with MED head Doug Gillard to discuss the issue.

Communications manager Richard McIntosh told Yellowknifer, “Our (MED) is aware of the conflict in Kam Lake and has been in communication with the property owners.”

Last year, MED issued 150 at large dog by-law offences, according to Marchiori.