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Wild Animal Law of Canada

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Municipalities Act, 1999 (Newfoundland)

(01 December 2016)
Note Re Application of the Municipalities Act, 1999 ('MA')

As do most provincial municipal acts, Newfoundland's Municipalities Act sets out what legislative subject-matters may be taken up by municipalities, here including some jurisdiction over animals. While the MA devotes much of it's attention to dogs, other animals (including wildlife) may also be municipally-regulated.

This law bears on the wildlife issues of:
  • PROTECTION
  • OWNERSHIP AND POSSESSION
  • FACILITIES
  • EUTHANASIA
  • MUNICIPAL

The full current text of this legislation (including regulations) may be viewed at the Newfoundland statute website.

Table of Contents
1. Express Animal Jurisdiction
2. Waste Management
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1. Express Animal Jurisdiction

Traditional Canadian municipal jurisdiction over animals has been grounded in nuisance and safety concerns. Classically it has been applied to authorize municipalities to establish provisions for the capture and impounding of dogs running at large. A key question for animal and wildlife advocates is what jurisdiction do municipalities have to expand their by-laws beyond these limited concerns to other species of animal, and other aspects of their relationship with humans.

Newfoundland's Municipalities Act ('MA') certainly embodies the dog nuisance/safety jurisdiction in relation to such things as seizure and impounding of dogs, their disposition after seizure, dog licensing and restrictions on how many dogs may be kept [MA 414(2)(g-p), 417(a-e,j)].

However in many of these instances, it has expanded it's 'animal' jurisdiction by the simple expedient of expanding the term "dogs" to "dogs and other animals". The result is that the following general 'animal' authorities are also within the jurisdiction of municipalities:
  • "prohibiting, restricting and controlling the running at large of .... animals and restricting and controlling the keeping of .... animals" [MA 414(2)(g)];

  • "providing for the seizure and impounding of animals found at large or kept contrary to regulations" [MA 414(2)(h)];

  • "prescribing fees for the impounding of .... animals [MA 414(2)(i)];

  • "providing for the sale, seizure, destruction and disposal of diseased and impounded .... animals not claimed and for which a fee is not paid in the time established by regulations" [MA 414(2)(j)].
Note that municipal licensing jurisdiction only applies to dogs [MA 414(2)(k-o)].

Local service districts (unamalgamated territories) have similar authorities over both dogs and other animals [MA 417(a-e,j)].


2. Waste Management

It is worth mentioning that the traditional municipal jurisdiction over waste management incidentally provides some potential for protection of wildlife in that the definition of "waste material" includes "a material or thing that may be a danger to the health of human beings, animals, wild life or fish" [MA 403.1(j)]. As such, wildlife-harmful waste might in some circumstances be addressed by enforcement of non-compliant waste management practice.

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Last modified: 16-11-20
By: admin