The long fight for in home dog day care continues!

(this is Janet having a conversation with a "pencil pusher")
Imagine having your life turned completely upside down in one morning. The owner of the most successful in home doggie day care had that happen at about 9am today. Janet Chernin has been fighting for almost the last 2 years because a spiteful competitor made a "query" about her business - and it turns out that in home doggie day cares violate current land use bylaws in the Halifax Regional Municipality.

Up until now the City Planning department has seemed to be working with Janet - even saying that her business might be used as a "model" for the revised Land Use Bylaw - until this morning when she got notice that the City Planners were advising to have the amendments rejected! Can you believe that? And they were presenting those findings at Community Council TONIGHT! No notice whatsoever to give any kind of rebuttal. Just like that - your 11 year old business is done for.

Shit. So anyway - we went to the Community Council meeting tonight and luckily the City Councillors didn't buy the recommendations of the pencil pusher City Planners and have moved the process forward to a Public Hearing to be held July 9th. Thank Dog.

Here is a link to what the Community Council put out this morning - http://www.halifax.ca/commcoun/pcc/documents/10.1.1Case00918LandUseBy-lawAmendmentDogCareFacilities.pdf - which if you read it is completely positive in the way of in home doggie day cares - the only thing negative is the pencil pushers.

And this is what I wrote in response to it:

Okay - this is making me sick to my stomach. This is just so wrong, isn't it? I've read the Case 00918: LUB Amendment, Halifax Peninsula, Dog Care Facilities over - and the reason why they're trying to have the amendment turned down is the very reason why it should be approved! They're saying that it should be turned down because they're trying to "maintain the integrity, stability and character of low-rise, residential areas" - and that dog day care operations should be focused in more appropriate areas of HRM - like in C-2 and C-3 areas - but that is completely wrong for many types of dogs - and that's what we've been trying to tell the City planners from the beginning.

The type of dogs that go to inhome doggy day cares cannot handle industrial types of doggy day cares - that's why we take them to places like Canine Casbah - they NEED a home environment! Not all dogs can handle being in a large room with a ton of other dogs and being put in a crate for a certain time every day - and not all dog owners can drive outside their neighbourhood and 40 minutes away to take their dog to doggy day care. As Ms. Donna MacRury states on page 15 of the Peninsula Community Council minutes - dog owners want "to se neighbourhoods offer all amendities so they did not have to go to the suburbs".

Canine Casbah is keeping dog owners from moving to the suburbs - keeping people from moving outside the city - and keeping people ON the peninsula.

If this LUB amendment is refused - it will be a slap in the face to every responsible dog owner in the Halifax Regional Municipality - it will show them that the staff and elected officials at City Hall don't care one whit about tax paying dog owners - and that they are not prepared to work with and LISTEN TO the dog owning - and also the NEIGHBOURS of doggie day cares in the HRM. During the very well-attended Public information Session held on October 5, 2006 - public opinion was VERY MUCH in favour of having in home doggy day cares - as noted in the minutes from that meeting.

Now simply because some City staff don't agree based on keeping Residential Evironments Section of City Wide Policies and neighbourhoods in scale - which sounds like they want existing neighbourhoods to slowly wither and die - they are literally shutting down growing and vibrant small businesses in the HRM.

SHAME on the HRM Staff, Councillors and Planners.

SHAME.

Joan Sinden


So the fight continues - stay tuned for further instructions!! haha!


- this is neat - this is outside the Council chambers - it's from the HMCS Bonaventure - my Dad was on the Bonaventure when it was decomissioned!