Cost of Vancouver’s aggressive dog licence to skyrocket

Aggressive dogs in Vancouver are about to cost a lot more, as the city’s council passed a motion Monday night to up the fee by more than 300 per cent.

The fee, which was $47 this year, will rise to $200 per dog, per year, as of 2023.

Sara Dubois, the chief scientific officer at BC SPCA, says having your dog designated as aggressive is not as straightforward as one might think.

“It’s [a] very complex issue to designate a dog as aggressive. There’s medical [issues], behavioral provocation, just the general environment that they’re living in that can all contribute to a particular dogfight,” Dubois said.

However, she says that as part of the rise in fees.

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The city is also making it easier for some owners to apply for the “aggressive” designation to be removed.

“After a year, and after going through some behavioral modification, demonstrating how that was done, an owner can actually apply for relief to have their dog removed [from the] aggressive label under their license,” Dubois explained.

Dog trainers have also been seeing a rise in behavioural problems, Dubois says, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Unfortunately, we see that a lot with animals that may have not left the home during the pandemic with their owners. That could be a phenomenon that more and more trainers are starting to see.”

According to the city, the new fees will be used to encourage responsible pet ownership and the municipality will reach out to registered owners about the new licencing.