Animal Control Officer update

About a month ago I was accosted by an Animal Control officer. I wrote a complaint to the Mayor and the CRD (which you can read HERE). I had a meeting with the CRD about the incident and they followed up with a letter (see below) and have put my complaint on record.

Dear Ms. Kramer,
I apologize for the delay in responding.  I have met and discussed the incident with Mr. Fraser.  As a result I am satisfied that while the encounter you had with him did not go well, there was no intent on his part to cause you grief and he is sorry that his actions upset you in the manner that they did.  We have discussed his approach about taking control of a dog’s leash in these circumstances and he has agreed that such practice in future would be reserved solely for those situations where he was dealing with a dangerous dog or an incident where control of the dog was necessary to protect public safety.

This change in procedure should alleviate this type of situation from happening again in future.  As discussed with you and your spouse, this now concludes my investigation into this matter.  Thank-you for your patience and cooperation.
Sincerely,
Mark Hayden – Manager of Bylaw & Licensing Services – City of Victoria

My sincere hope is that when the city decides whether or not to re-hire Mr.Frasers animal control company that they take my complaint into consideration.

I would also like to encourage anyone else in the Victoria BC area who has had an altercation with Mr.Fraser – to report it so that a file of complaints of his bad behavior can be collected.

“When you bring consciousness to anything, things begin to shift,” – Eve Ensler
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6 Responses to Animal Control Officer update

  1. lisa sullivan says:

    hmm… how do you feel about that.. acknowledgement is good but a formal apology would be nice.
    my son is a sexual abuse survivor and on a KLM flight the head purser actually grabbed his arm because he didn’t put his nintendo away fast enough he was 18 at the time and nearly went into red mist mode … (though the businessman with the open laptop wasn’t an issue). People need to learn to keep their hands to themselves.

  2. Carol says:

    I agree, acknowledgement is good and I hope it gives you some closure but a personal apology, whether it be on paper or in person, would be most appropriate.
    I’m sorry, but I found it a little amusing when he mentioned how the protocol has changed and he will only be taking the leash in hand if it’s a dangerous dog…..and I got this image in my head of Fergus looking especially ferocious that day… 🙂

  3. Kirk B says:

    Victoria Animal Control is out of control and they have to be stopped. Somehow we have to collect all of these different complaints and put them together. Any ideas? I found your blog by accident.
    I had a letter to the editor of the Victoria News, that was mildly critical of VAC, published on Wednesday May 30th. On the evening of May 30th likely a dozen or more police were combing my neighbourhood looking for me, an hour before I even left my house at 6:20. Ian Fraser claimed that I had threatened him. He later admitted to never having met me. He of course knows where I live so there was no need for the manhunt. He was wasting police resources for his personal vendetta.

    At 6:30 PM I found myself surrounded while down on the rocks by the water in the off leash dog park by police from six police cars and a police van, with a helicopter overhead. I was handcuffed for 20 minutes despite being cooperative and being a middle aged respectable looking man. They claimed that my dog licenses were fake (they are not), my drivers license was fake (it is not) and then gave me $65 ticket for having a dog off leash (in an off leash dog park?!).

    What a waste of police time and tax money. A helicopter for a $65 ticket, that I will now dispute in court!!! Ian faser wasted thousands of taxpayer money trying to silence my voice in the press.

    Ian Fraser and his goons are seriously out of control. They are not civilized. The citizens of Victoria have to mobilize against this incivility and block the renewal of his contract slated for renewal in Fall 2012, expiring Dec 31, 2012.

  4. corey says:

    I’m sorry to hear about this rude incident: you were technically assaulted.

    I’ve had a few incidents with those guys myself. One time, I came home and one of the Officers was in my back yard. I asked him to leave and he refused, stating “we are allowed to come into your yard whenever we want”. I read the statute to Ian explaining that they are required to give the homeowner “reasonable notice that they need to inspect the yard’. I know he understands this, but it would make his job difficult so he would not like it to be widely known.

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