FRIDAY MAY 6 2016
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A Bunch of Actors sink their teeth into Victorian comedy LOOK 27
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Building a better closet with the basics TODAY’S DRIVE 41
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Homeless man’s dog on death row Pit bull’s aggressive behaviour disputed at courthouse
BRENT RICHTER brichter@nsnews.com
A homeless Downtown Eastside man is hoping to save his dog from being destroyed after it was seized by the District of West Vancouver’s bylaw officers.
The district is seeking a court order to euthanize Jairo Augusto Gonzales’s pit bull Kora after several incidents of unprovoked aggression, according to court documents, though Augusto Gonzales and several advocates dispute the district’s version of events. Between October 2015 and March 2016, the district’s bylaw officer made several visits to the 500-block of Craigmohr Drive in the British Properties where Augusto Gonzales and Kora were temporarily living with a friend. Neighbours complained she was running at large and off leash. On at least two occasions, they claimed she was lunging and barking aggressively. On March 26, with a West Vancouver police officer on the scene, Kora again charged, the district alleges, causing the officer to draw his gun. Four days later, the bylaw officer returned with a warrant to seize Kora and take her to the West Vancouver branch of the SPCA. There was one other incident in which she lunged at a child from her kennel there. “The animal control officer believes that Kora is likely to
Daniel Stadt and his pit bull King Kong sit outside the North Vancouver provincial court Wednesday. The District of West Vancouver is seeking to have King Kong’s mother Kora destroyed after alleged incidents of unprovoked aggression against neighbours. Stadt showed up in support of Kora. PHOTO MIKE WAKEFIELD kill or seriously injure a person as a result of her unprovoked aggression to neighbours and strangers, and the inability or unwillingness of the respondent to ensure that Kora is properly secured at all times,” the district’s application to the court states. Augusto Gonzales and his
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City of North Van to consider tree cutting bylaw MARIA SPITALE-LEISK AND JEREMY SHEPHERD jshepherd@nsnews.com
If a tree bylaw falls in the City of North Vancouver, does it make a sound? The city will investigate
instituting a tree cutting bylaw later this year following a council meeting Monday, but whether any new rules take root remains to be seen. “While there may be some pros, there’s also some costs and some cons,”
said Mayor Darrell Mussatto on the possibility of a new tree bylaw. Unlike neighbouring North Shore municipalities, City of North Vancouver homeowners – barring a land covenant – are free to chop till they drop. That
absence of regulation has allowed the city to be more efficient, according to Mussatto. “We haven’t had to have a lot of staff time go into regulating trees, and we can
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