For the past several months, the Town of Bracebridge has been considering significant changes when it comes to feeding wildlife.
When the motion was introduced to councillors in June, the Town’s by-law department said they were worried about increased human-wildlife conflict, a possible rise in the population of unwanted animals and wildlife, and detrimental effects on the welfare and health of wildlife.
Councillors decided to put the matter out for public input before making any decisions and now they’re starting to receive some feedback.
In an open letter to council, Bracebridge resident Brain Vetich said while he was happy to see the survey, he said more information needed to be included.
“When one question referenced a ‘concern about public safety’, it would have been informative to state what these concerns are and which wildlife were causing these concerns,” said Veitch. “The OPP and MNR do not keep statistics on wildlife safety concerns related to wildlife and feeding, since the only way to get any evidence would be to autopsy animals at the incident site. They stated to me that they do not do this. If the Chief bylaw officer is aware of another source of information on this, then that would be useful to me, and other taxpayers, for understanding why the need for a bylaw.”
He went on to say a clearer definition of what exactly “feeding wildlife” entails. He also said more information should be included on the cost of enforcement in terms of staff, legal action, tools and equipment.
“When the question stated ‘there is a growing concern about wildlife… ‘ it might be useful in order to judge the necessity for a bylaw if one knew that there had been 11 concerned calls overall last year, and that 9 of these had been about geese, while one was about a young fox’,” he said. “This will mean a lot of time and energy spent by the bylaw office and Council. Is this bylaw really needed?”
You can find the survey at engagebracebridge.ca.
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The survey is now closed. Just don’t get mad when your pet squirrel gets into your attic!!