B.C. homeowners call on RCMP to stop using their yards to train dogs

Upset Vancouver Island homeowners are calling on local Mounties to stop training dogs in their backyards.

The B.C. Civil Liberties Association has complained about the practice to the federal Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP.

"In the absence of consent, statutory authority or other legal justification, the intrusion of RCMP onto private property for a purpose not authorized by the homeowner constitutes trespass and is illegal under provincial law in British Columbia," wrote BCCLA executive director David Eby in the complaint.

Roger and Cindy Smith notified the BCCLA after they saw an RCMP dog and seven or eight police officers run through their suburban Nanaimo yard at noon on May 25.

"I didn’t know who it was but one of the men did have ‘Police’ written on the front and back of his shirt," said Roger Smith on Wednesday.

"I understood that police didn’t have the right to just walk on your property."

The Smiths’ Belgian shepherd was inside at the time but wouldn’t have taken kindly to a police dog on the property, he said.

"It was such a shock – you have this posse suddenly showing up in your backyard," Smith said.

They were in pale blue uniforms "and could have been from the correctional centre, that was my concern," Smith said.

Nobody came to the front door to give a warning prior to the training exercise, he said. "When (the police) ran up the garden, they had no idea what they would see in the backyard – there could have been kids out playing. It seems they are pushing Murphy’s law to the extent that somebody is going to get hurt," he said.

In response to their concerns, Nanaimo RCMP Sgt. Sheryl Armstrong responded by email that the dog handler didn’t break the law.

While a search warrant is required for police to enter a private dwelling to search for items used in the commission of an offence, Armstrong said that because the dog was on a training exercise, there was no need for a legal request to enter the property.

"During the course of this training exercise the police officers did not commit a provincial nor federal offence," she wrote in an email excerpt included in Eby’s complaint.

The dog handler usually contacts residents in advance to let them know a dog-training exercise may involve police entering their property, said Armstrong.

"In this case (the dog handler) was under the mistaken impression no one was home. Once he realized his error he returned to explain what transpired."

Eby notes that a similar training exercise in Chilliwack in 2009 led to a police dog handler shooting a family’s dog.

"Failing to give members of the public opportunity to remove family pets, children and themselves from their yards when the opportunity to do so exists, as a result, unnecessarily exposes the public and their property to potential harm," said Eby.

A call to Nanaimo RCMP on Wednesday was not returned.

Ruth Thomson lives three doors away from the Nanaimo RCMP station.

"They are not good neighbours," she said Wednesday. "I’ve had at least four times when they’ve gone through my yard with the dog. There’s never any warning."

The first time she witnessed the intrusion, Thomson said she was "so pissed off."

The latest incident was on June 12, 2011, when Thomson heard voices from the area behind the home she’s owned for nearly 30 years.

"I saw police in black clothing going through my yard with a dog," she said.

"I don’t like the feeling of what happened in my heart, seeing those guys flying through my yard. It’s my property – I don’t believe you have the right to go through in full riot gear."

She’s happy that more people are coming forward to complain.

"I know we need (the RCMP) but our backyards aren’t playgrounds for them and their dogs," said Thomson.

The BCCLA is calling for the RCMP to put in place an unambiguous policy about dog training and private property: "Don’t enter unless you’ve got informed consent in advance from the owner and you’ve given ample notice. Period."