The Association for the Protection of Fur-Bearing Animals, an organization well known on the Sunshine Coast for efforts to get local governments to pass bylaws restricting the use of traps, wants the Town of Gibsons to adopt a wildlife feeding bylaw.
The association’s Adrian Nelson appeared before Gibsons council’s committee of the whole Feb. 6. Nelson told councillors that he was asked by association members to address the topic after several high-profile incidents involving bears on the Sunshine Coast last summer.
“There were six bears that were destroyed here in Gibsons last summer alone,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of wildlife that’s being habituated to food sources, whether that’s direct feeding or indirect feeding through garbage or other attractants like barbecues, fruit trees or unkempt gardens.”
The anticipated start of curbside organics pickup in the Town has raised some questions about animals getting into the bins full of kitchen scraps, but Nelson said the biggest concern, beyond people deliberately putting food out for deer or other animals, is bird feeders.
According to Nelson, there are several ways municipalities with a bylaw tackle the issue, and he suggested adding provisions to the garbage service bylaw could be an option, seeing as it will have to be amended to add the organics program, although a stand-alone bylaw would be best.
“It’s easier for the public to find, it’s very clear, and it’s a lot easier for staff to reference and refer back to,” he said, adding that the BC SPCA has already prepared several model bylaws that the Town could adopt with little or no change.
Councillors were generally supportive of the idea, but didn’t make any specific recommendations.
