Environmental Protection Ruling

In June of this year, the Environmental Protection Tribunal of Canada clarified an issue of dogs running at large within a migratory bird sanctuary. An individual was fined for having their dog off-leash in Cadboro Bay, which is in the Migratory Bird Sanctuary. The claimant argued that the dog had not harmed anything. The tribunal found this argument had no merit and upheld the finding. This is backed by multiple studies indicating migratory birds have a severe response when dogs are within 100m, whether on or off-leash. As a consequence of this response, they often fail to nest and sometimes burn so much energy in avoiding the danger that they abandon their nest. The outcome of dogs within migratory bird sanctuaries is almost always the plummeting of species within the area.