PAGE 4, WFT)NESDAY, OCTOBER 3. 1984, WHITBY FR-EE PRESS whitby Voice of the County Town Michael Ian Burgess, The only Whitby newspaper independently owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whitby residents. To animal control bylaw Grantmg exception wouldn't be detrimental On two occasions in recent months, this newspaper has published two cartoons poking fun at the proposed exotic animal controi bylaw which should be enacted by Whitby Town Council next week. While we have taken a light-hearted look at the Issue, we believe It to be a serious one but not as serlous as it was treated at Monday night's meeting of the operations committee. It seems that a family living on the outskIrts of Ashburn will be forced to get rid of the animais that they have kept without complaint since they moved to the area a few years ago. They moved to Ashburn to be able to enjoy the lifestyle that they currently have. This family has not broken any laws to the best of our knowledge nor do they appear to have presented their neigh- bours with a potential or actuai health hazard. What annoyed this newspaper was the reasons given by the committee for including them in the residential section of Ashburn, thereby forcing them to get rid of their animais and probably their lifestyle. It seems that the committee feels the bylaw should be enacted carte blanche in Ashburn, because they feel that it would have to be in place when development occurs. may occur at some point in the future. While we would concur that the recently adop- ted Ashburn Secondary Plan would-pave the way for development we would like to point out that to the best of our knowledge there are no ap- plications for re-zoning or proposais for sub- division, development or site plan agreements before Whitby Town Council with respect to the hamiet. Therefore, as Coun. Marcel Brunelle pointed out, the bylaw is being enacted to cover an even- tuality which may not become an actuality in the next 20 years. (Especially in light of the current problems being experienced with the now defunct Brooklin development scheme.) Il this Ashburn family was residing in Otter Creek, West Lynde, Rolling Hills or even Brooklin, then this newspaper would have no difficulty sup- porting the committee's position. We do not believe, from the evidence presented to date, that allowing this family to maintain Its lifestyle would have a detrimental effect on the town. We would like to point out that we support the enactment of the exotic animal control bylaw. There should be some measures in place to protect both the residents of the town and exotic The committee anticipates that development animais such as ferrets, wild cats and others - 0 - da