Help Us Protect Off-leash Access

Please help to hold Saanich Council accountable for its lack of democratic responsibility to its citizens and support our work on balanced and community-based outcomes.

We are raising money to continue and expand our actions to work with Saanich, the Capital Regional District and other South Island municipalities. The funds raised will support research, democratic, communications and legal efforts to protect our shrinking off-leash freedom and create a legal society to enhance our voice. All aimed at making reasonable changes to the current Saanich Council and Staff supported People, Pets and Parks (PPP) Strategy and protecting off-leash space in the South Island.

We have cost estimates for potential environmental and other research, legal and outreach efforts that add up to $70,000. We are asking our community to support us in strengthening our efforts to repair the damage that the Saanich Council unanimously approved and poorly designed PPP strategy, if unaltered, will:

• Cost the estimated 10 to 20,000 Saanich homeowners with dogs almost $1,000 each year while also taking away 84% of their current off-leash space in Saanich.

• Cost every homeowner in Saanich a minimum of $215 more in taxes.

• Cost dog owners between $350 and $750 each year in increased fuel costs.

• Create an extra 3,400 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions EVERY YEAR from the increased driving that will be forced on 10-20,000 families – that amount of CO2 requires 170,000 growing trees to offset!

• Cost $10.5M new taxpayer dollars over the first five years (until 2029) and a minimum of $1.4M from 2030 onward. $10.5 million is equivalent to the 2023 property tax increase for all Saanich taxpayers. The PPP will create a property tax increase of 1.4% each of the next 5 years for every Saanich homeowner and this is before any other programs are added or expanded in Saanich; before the costs of inflation and before any ice rink or sidewalk or tree canopy is added.

• Limit us to 57 off-leash parks, most of which are not suitable given their size, proximity to roads, playgrounds and sports fields, lack of fencing for safety and the risks of uncontrolled spear grass.

• Remove 84% of the current off-leash space in Saanich.

• Reduce 20+ km of trails in PKOLS to 2 km for off-leash hiking.

• Require leashes on all but one beach in all of Saanich. This beach now has significant archeological interest for indigenous communities and was chosen based only on parking assumptions without consultation with beach or park users and citizens in the area.

Dog owners and walkers are in parks every single day, no matter the weather. We are nearly 3 in 4 daily park users and the first eyes on any danger or problem be it wildlife alerts such as cougar activity or garbage left by humans. The recommendations in the PPP ignore and outright dismiss citizen action including requests for changes, collaboration, ideas and alternatives which could have met the stated objective of the project:

“The Project Objective is to develop a strategy through a transparent, clear, robust and defendable public engagement process. This will result in the development of a framework that will allow Saanich and its park users to achieve positive desired relationships between all people (pet owners and non-pet owners) pets and the environment (parks and beaches).” (Quote from Saanich PPP Terms of Reference)

For the last two years, Saanich Dog owners and friends have worked to support Saanich to make community and evidence-based decisions that would provide reasonable off-leash access in our parks along with places for those who do not want to experience dogs or who prefer to walk their dogs on leash. We also want to help establish how environmental impacts are assessed and to protect those areas in need of protection.

Please note that unused funds raised through GoFundMe will be donated to FLED, ROAM and other worthy causes.