Vicious Dog Legislation

If you believe you have been the victim of a vicious dog or require more information please contact either:

Summary of Vicious Dog Legislation:
The Province of Saskatchewan has legislation regarding the powers and duties of municipalities with respect to the control of dogs within the municipality. The legislation sets out a system by which a dog may be declared dangerous. The matter must be brought before a judge in the form of a hearing. To have a dog declared dangerous, there must be evidence before the judge that the dog in question:

(a) without provocation, in a vicious or menacing manner, chased or approached a person or domestic animal in an apparent attitude of attack;

(b) has a known propensity (i.e. a past history) to attack, cause injury or to otherwise threaten the safety of persons or domestic animals, without provocation,

(c) has, without provocation, bitten, inflicted injury, assaulted or otherwise attacked a person or domestic animal; or

(d) is owned primarily or in part for the purpose of dog fighting.

There must be evidence of the above incidents from the people involved or witnesses of the event. There can be no hearsay evidence, which means you cannot come to court and describe events that you have not seen, but someone has told you about. If the facts given to the City of Yorkton show sufficient evidence of one of the above four requirements, the owner will be given notice of a hearing to have his dog declared dangerous. The City will then present their evidence, and the owner will have a chance to answer with his own evidence and his own witnesses.

In addition to the hearing process for having the dog declared dangerous, the owner of the dog may be subject to charges under the provisions of The Cities Act. Upon conviction, the owner would be liable to a fine of up to $ 10,000.00 and a sentence of one year in jail.

Upon declaring a dog dangerous, the judge may order the dog destroyed. If the judge does not order destruction, then the owner must comply with a number of regulations designed to protect the public from dangerous dogs. The dog must be kept in a pen when outside of a dwelling unattended; it must be muzzled at all times when it is outdoors: the owner must post signs showing that he has a dog on the premises that has been declared dangerous; and he must carry a certain amount of insurance. Failure to comply will lead to prosecution.