A hand that feeds wildlife in the city could face more than just a slap on the wrist as a new by-law comes into effect this month.
The city’s wildlife feeding prohibition by-law was passed Feb. 27 and came into effect immediately in an effort to curb the city’s deer population. Anyone found intentionally feeding deer, seagulls and geese could receive a fine up to $5,000.
“Though they may seem like kind actions and a nice thing to do we are causing automobile accidents on our roads,” city licensing and enforcement manager Ron Bourret said.
“No serious injuries have happened to date and we certainly don’t want any to happen in the future.”
While the city is taking complaints right away, the bylaw won’t be enforced until May 1 to give people time to voluntarily comply.
“In most cases a lot of people actually don’t know and you can’t assume everybody knows everything about our by-laws in the city,” Bourret said. “We want to ask people nicely.
We want them to understand why this has happened and maybe then they can understand.”
Bourret said a first offense will probably be a $250 fine.
