Changes to Thunder Bay animal services being made after review finds 'several gaps'

CBC News

· Posted: May 02, 2025 12:49 PM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

The City of Thunder Bay is making changes to carnal services aft a reappraisal recovered "several gaps" successful the services the section was providing.

A study going to assembly connected Monday states that carnal services scaled backmost its activities successful 2020, owed to a restructuring of the city's Licencing and Enforcement Division.

The program merged Animal Services Section into Municipal Enforcement Services (MES). A large portion of it relied on assemblage partners to woody with stray and injured animals and to assistance find them homes, the study stated. 

"This displacement besides resulted successful the cessation of adoption services, surrender services, and constricted the types of carnal complaints responded to by Municipal Law Enforcement Officers (MLEO)."

As a result, relationships with non-profit rescue organizations became "strained," which has had a "negative interaction connected the community, and the carnal services strategy arsenic a whole."

A caller reappraisal of carnal services by metropolis medication identified those gaps, and now, successful an effort to "fill the void and physique capacity" successful carnal services, the metropolis will:

• Reinstate responses to calls for animals at-large.
• Accept surrendered animals.
• Re-establish an online beingness to to assistance reunite mislaid pets with their owners.
• Work with section rescue groups to determination animals from the city's structure to more-suitable environments.
• Review and modernize standards of care.
• Create a task unit to supply recommendations astir animals successful the city.

Longer-term, the metropolis volition proceed to reappraisal and modernize carnal bylaws, policies, procedures and training, the study to assembly states.

Kristyn Lovato-Day, a argumentation and probe expert with the city's firm services division, said the COVID-19 pandemic led to a simplification successful carnal services activities.

"MEF (Municipal Enforcement Services) took a measurement backmost owed to the pandemic, and staffing and regulations for enactment with the public," she said. "They had closed the gathering to the public, and had worked to rehome each the animals in care."

Lost favored website launched

Some of the changes person already been implemented. Strays that are reported by the nationalist are being picked up, and a website has been launched wherever the mislaid pets are posted.

A telephone for members of the task unit is expected to spell retired this month, arsenic well, Lovato-Day said.

"This is simply a task that we're actively moving on, and trying to marque arsenic galore changes successful arsenic abbreviated a clip arsenic possible," she said.

Talks person besides been taking spot with canine rescues.

Robin Ratz, laminitis of Murillo Mutts, said she's had "quite a few" talks with the city, and is blessed with the changes being made to carnal services.

"I deliberation that they recognize that they've made a mistake, that determination was decidedly a deficiency of services for the animals successful Thunder Bay and they're trying to ace that," she said.

Ratz added that she's besides a certified canine trainer, and she'll beryllium helping carnal services unit measure dogs, and get them adopted.

"I's going to instrumentality immoderate clip ... to hole everything, but they're consenting to bash it," she said. "I think that astatine that says a batch astir the City of Thunder Bay."

"We emotion our animals," Ratz said. "Thunder Bay is simply a immense carnal community. And truthful for animals to fundamentally beryllium near to suffer, that wasn't acceptable."

"So I'm precise blessed that they're consenting to marque the changes."

The afloat study is avaialble connected the city's website.