Responsible Pet Ownership

Licensing your dog (and making sure they wear their ID tag) is their ticket back home if they sneak out or wander off. Licensing your dog with the Town of Golden can cost as little as $20 a year!

Licences are required by the Town and must be renewed each year and displayed on your dog’s collar. 

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Keep an eye on your dog, use effective hand/voice control, and respect other dogs and owners. If your dog doesn’t have recall, it shouldn’t be off-leash. Please make sure you are familiar with the on-leash areas of town.

Unless you are in a designated off-leash area, including parks with seasonal restrictions, dogs must be on leash in the community at all times. 

There are five designated off-leash areas, and two off-leash trail areas for your dog to exercise and play in the community. In off-leash areas, owners are expected to use effective hand/voice control, and respect other dogs and owners. If your dog doesn’t have recall, it shouldn’t be off leash.

Check out the off-leash map. 

Anywhere else dogs are free to be off leash, but remember they need to be within eyesight and under immediate charge and effective control.

Dogs off leash:

• Don’t let your dog run loose. Dogs must not be allowed to run at large.
• Keep an eye on your dog.
• Use effective hand and/or voice control.
• Respect other dogs and owners. Don’t let your dog run up to other dogs or people unless you know them.

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Cleaning up after your pet isn't just the right thing to do, it's the law. Dog waste can be harmful to people, pets and the environment if not picked up and disposed of properly. The Town provides biodegradable pet waste bags at 20 stations around Golden.

Here’s what you can do to help keep Golden’s parks, pathways and sidewalks clean and safe:

• Always carry pet waste bags when walking your dog. Don’t worry, if you forget there are free dogwaste bags available around town and along the Rotary Trail.
• Pick up your pet’s waste by placing your hand in the bag, grabbing the waste, turning the bag inside out, closing the bag and properly disposing of your dog’s waste at a nearby receptacle.

Animal overpopulation is an ongoing problem in many places. Spaying or neutering your pet helps prevent overpopulation and keeps animals from becoming homeless, overcrowding shelters, and being euthanized. The Town of Golden offers reduced license fees for spayed or neutered dogs. 

No one may keep more than three cats or dogs over the age of four months within the Town of Golden.

A dog or cat must be provided with the following basic standards of care:

• Clean potable drinking water at all times and suitable food of sufficient quantity and quality.
• Food and water receptacles that are kept clean and located away from contamination such as pet waste.
• Training, physical care, socialization and medical attention when needed.

Dogs and cats must not:

• Be confined in an enclosed space, including a car, without adequate ventilation.
• Be hitched, tied or fastened by any rope, chain or cord that is directly tied around the animal's neck or to a choke collar.
• Willfully released, teased, tormented or wounded.

If an animal is kept outside for short or extended period of times, it must be provided:

• Shelter
  • protecting the animal from heat, cold and wet;
  • appropriate to the animal’s weight and type of coat; and,
  • with enough space to allow the animal to turn about freely, easily stand, and to sit and lie in a normal position.
• An area with sufficient shade to protect the animal from direct sun at all times.
• Any pen or run area must be regularly cleaned and sanitized and all pet waste removed at least once a day.

A lost pet can be stressful for both the animal and their owner. Here is some helpful information on what to do if you find an animal that you think might be lost:

Check for identification. Check to see if the animal is wearing a collar and if it has an identification tag. All dogs within the Town of Golden must be licensed. Keeping an identification tag on your dog (or other pets) is your pet’s ticket back home. If a dog is wearing a Town of Golden dog tag, contact the Bylaw Enforcement Officer 250-344-2271 ext. 234 or email bylaw@golden.ca to help you identify the dog and its owners and reunite them.

Is the animal actually lost? If you see a dog or cat at large and you think it may be lost, talk to people in the area to see if they recognize the pet or have seen the owners.

Use the web! If you have a Facebook account, many owners post to the local Golden Facebook pages about lost or missing pets. Check out the Golden Community page to see if anyone has posted.

Still can’t find the owner?

If you are in the Town of Golden: 

• To report a lost or found dog contact the Bylaw Enforcement Officer at 250-344-2271 ext. 234 or email bylaw@golden.ca. Please consider the safety of both you and the animal, do not pick up an animal and bring it to Town Hall. Please note that the Town does not provide 24-hour animal control/impoundment services. If you pick up a lost dog outside of business hours, you should be prepared to house the animal for at least the day/night while you find the owners or shelter for the animal.
• If it is after business hours, contact Little Mittens at (250) 939-8085 or littlemittensrescue@gmail.com

If you are in Area A (outside of the Town of Golden’s boundaries, i.e. Nicholson, Blaeberry, etc.):

• Contact Little Mittens at (250) 939-8085 or littlemittensrescue@gmail.com
• If you Little Mittens is unable to help, please contact the BCSPCA:
  Phone: (250) 426-6751
  Emergency phone: (250) 426-6751  (During operating hours) After hours: call your local police or RCMP
  Animal Helpline (toll free): 1-855-622-7722

Click here for more tips from the BCSCPA on what to do if you find a lost or stray animal.

You are allowed to keep backyard hens/ducks in your backyard if you follow these steps:

1. Know and understand the regulations.
2. Learn how to care for backyard hens/ducks 
3. Register your backyard hens/ducks

Learn more and register.

In addition to the online survey, residents will be able to provide feedback throughout the bylaw process. Stay tuned for more information once we have a draft bylaw to present to Council.

The bylaw process:

1. Background Research (2024/2025):
   Staff collects input from residents, research, best practices, and advice from legal experts, leaders in municipal animal control and the BC SPCA.
2. Bylaw Drafting:
   Staff will prepare a draft Responsible Pet Owner and Animal Control Bylaw in 2025 based on the research collected.
3. Staff Report to Council - First Reading/Second Reading:
   Once a draft bylaw is complete, staff will introduce the bylaw to Council for first reading along with a staff report providing additional information. Residents can provide further input on the bylaw at this time via email to clerk@golden.ca or by attending the Council meeting.
4. Council Consideration - Third Reading. 
5. Final Adoption by Council.
6. Public education (WE ARE HERE):
   Once a bylaw has been adopted by Council, staff will provide information and public education to the community.

From November 14 to December 1, 2023, the Town of Golden asked residents for their input on responsible pet ownership and backyard hens/ducks before drafting an updated Responsible Pet Owner and Animal Control Bylaw. The online survey received over 840 responses! 

The What We Heard report provides a summary of feedback received during the public engagement period, including the full survey results and verbatim comments. 

What We Heard Report