Professional association of B.C. bylaw workers releases cheeky top calls list

Condo buildings tower above older two and three-storey walk-up apartment buildings, in Burnaby, B.C., on Wednesday, December 18, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

VANCOUVER — The professional association for B.C. bylaw workers says among its top 10 “interesting” calls received last year included a resident complaining about a neighbour “purposefully” flatulating in their general direction as a form of harassment.

The Local Government Compliance and Enforcement Association of BC released a list of top “interesting, unique and funny calls” received by bylaw departments in the province last year.

The association says it’s sharing the list to educate the public on what may or may not be an issue for bylaw officers, including a complaint from a person upset about someone being approved for an emotional support duck when their friend wasn’t allowed to have a chicken.

One call involved a resident complaint about a neighbour’s yellow tulips clashing “with the colour of their fence,” and another call came in about a person shopping at a thrift store with a cat that was in heat and “yowling loudly.”

A resident in an unnamed location called bylaw enforcement because they were “upset” that a neighbour was “throwing dog feces into their yard,” but the piles were actually mole hills.

The list also included a complaint about a yellow car violating “community standards,” a “frightening” tarp, a pond attracting wildlife and a cat that sat on a fence that stared at the complainant.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 15, 2025.

Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press