Pandemic pets: Did COVID spur an adoption boom in Hamilton?

You might think that, after two long years cooped up inside and scores of news reports about a boom in pandemic pet adoptions, dog licences and complaints about everything from barks to bites would be on the rise in Hamilton.

But the numbers tell a different story.

Between 2019 and 2021, the city's animal services division saw pet adoptions fall year-over-year to 267 from 583, dog bite investigations to 198 from 243 and barking dog complaints to 849 from 1,002. Licence registrations also dropped, to 35,631 in 2021 and 35,450 in 2020 from 40,624 in 2019.

Meanwhile, charges under the city's animal ownership bylaw - which two years ago was by far the bylaw most frequently broken in Hamilton - plummeted to 655 in 2021 from 1,391 in 2020 and 1,544 in 2019.

What explains the trends?

On the adoption front, spokesperson Michelle Shantz said there were fewer dogs at the city's shelter on Dartnall Road, which experienced several closures and restrictions during the pandemic, such as no in-person service.

On the charges front, Shantz said bylaw deployed a more compassionate approach" to animal ownership violations amid COVID, suspending door-to-door canvassing and proactive licensing initiatives.

And on the dog-related complaints front, Shantz said the lower numbers could be attributed to more people working and being at home during (pandemic-spurred) restrictions/lockdowns."

Heather Ashcroft, adoptions co-ordinator for the Hamilton-Burlington SPCA, agrees.

Typically, when dogs are barking, they are alert barking - alerting their home that something is amiss. But if their owners are home with them, they might feel more comfortable or less apt to bark," she explained.

Alternatively, if an owner is home with their barking dog, they're able to tell them to knock it off, whereas if they're not home and the dog gets into a barking cycle, that's probably where complaints start to come up," Ashcroft said.

Speaking generally, Ashcroft said COVID measures could've played a part in fewer dog bite investigations. More people at home meant less people around for dogs to bite. But also social distancing," Ashcroft said. There's less of a risk of a stranger with a dog approaching you unexpectedly."

Fireworks, public urination and other interesting bylaw nuggets

• The use of fireworks in Hamilton has long drawn the ire of residents in neighbourhood Facebook groups. But in 2021, municipal enforcement laid no charges under its fireworks bylaw, and just one in 2020. Shantz said the reason for the low numbers is twofold. First, bylaw officers only respond to firework calls on a complaint-basis and the noise may be over" once they get there. Second, the use of fireworks can also be ticketed under the city's parks bylaw - if that's where they happen to be set off. There were 2,437 parks bylaw charges in 2021, making it the most frequently broken bylaw that year - although it's unclear how many of those charges stemmed from fireworks.

• Charges under the city's public nuisance bylaw hit 171 in 2021 - a far cry from the single penalty laid in 2020. Shantz said the increase of people working from home translated to more residential area disturbances, which includes everything from defecating in public to knocking over mailboxes. Another big reason? Urinating in public charges increased in entertainment areas such as Hess Village," she said.

• For the first time in three years, municipal enforcement officers laid a lottery licence bylaw" charge in 2021. Violations of the bylaw including not having a valid lottery licence or running a lottery scheme through bingo or raffles.

• Municipal law enforcement laid a total of 5,638 charges last year - a 65 per cent increase over 2020. Bylaw received more than 51,000 complaint calls from residents, or roughly 139 calls for action per day. About 11 per cent of those calls resulted in charges being laid.

Sebastian Bron is a reporter at The Spectator. sbron@thespec.com