Nov 1, 2026
Smarty and Kit Kat are gentle goats living on a 56-acre property. But the Town of Winnipeg Beach says they’re livestock — and livestock aren’t allowed on residential land.
Anjali Schludermann says she got Smarty about three years ago, after suffering a seizure, and recently added Kit Kat. Following a neighbour’s complaint, the town ordered her to remove both goats and threatened to take action at her expense. She has a doctor’s note describing them as emotional support animals, but so far, that hasn’t been enough.
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The dispute is unusual. The money lesson, however, isn’t. When a bylaw order lands on your property, the cost of ignoring it — or missing the window to fight it — can follow you right into your tax bill.
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Why doesn’t a doctor’s note make the goats service animals?
As CTV News Winnipeg reported, the town and the Eastern Interlake Planning District, the regional body that administers land-use planning for the area, obtained a legal opinion on the merits of the goats as emotional support. Their conclusion: there’s a critical difference between a service animal and a pet that offers comfort. The email Schludermann received says there’s no evidence that her goats meet the “training requirement” for service animals.
That line comes straight from Manitoba law. Under the Human Rights Code, a service animal is an animal that is trained to help a person with a disability with tasks related to that disability, like according to the province’s Accessibility Manitoba office. An emotional support animal, however helpful, doesn’t meet that test on its own.
Schludermann concedes her goats aren’t trained. And Manitoba has no regulated system to certify service animals.
Winnipeg has been here before. In 2016, the city gave a woman six months to prove her pot-bellied pig was trained to assist her. The city’s animal services head warned at the time that others might start claiming “my goat is a service animal,” according to CBC News.
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What happens if you ignore a removal order?
Manitoba’s Municipal Act lets a designated officer order a person to fix a bylaw contravention, and if they fail to comply, the municipality can do the work and charge the person for it.
That bill won’t just disappear if you ignore it. Several Manitoba municipalities, including Morris and the City of Morden, allow unpaid enforcement costs to be collected the same way as property taxes. Under the Act, any unpaid taxes become a special lien on the land.
How much time do you have to appeal?
You’re not given much time to appeal. Under the Municipal Act, a person served with an order can appeal to council, which can uphold, cancel, change or suspend the order, or give more time to comply. The Morris bylaw sets the appeal window at 15 days from when you received the citation. Check your own order for the exact deadline.
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Skipping that step can cost you. In St. Clements (Rural Municipality) v. Zucawich, the Manitoba Court of Appeal ruled that a property owner who neither complied with a clean-up order nor appealed it to council couldn’t later challenge its validity in court. By that point, the owner had already remedied the issue at their own expense.
Schludermann, for her part, is appealing the decision. The town declined to comment to CTV News, saying the matter is under investigation.
Are there zoning options besides an appeal?
Sometimes you have some options beyond an appeal. Under Manitoba’s Planning Act, local planning authorities can vary certain zoning requirements. Some uses can also be approved as conditional uses after a public hearing.
Neither option is free or guaranteed. Fees vary: the Rural Municipality (RM) of Reynolds lists $425 for a variation and $2,000 for a zoning bylaw amendment, while the RM of Ste. Anne charges $340 for a conditional use. Approval may also come with some conditions — or not at all.
What to do now
If a bylaw order lands in your mailbox — for an animal, a shed or anything else — don’t wait to do anything:
- Read the order for the deadline, the bylaw section cited and what the town says it will do if you don’t comply
- File an appeal with council in writing as soon as possible and definitely before the deadline, even if you’re still negotiating
- Ask the planning office whether a variation or conditional use is possible and what it costs
- If a disability is involved, gather medical documentation — but know it doesn’t mean your animal and your situation will automatically qualify
- Check zoning before you bring home an animal that isn’t a typical household pet
- Talk to a lawyer, if necessary, before the appeal window closes
Bylaw disputes tend to turn on paperwork and deadlines, not on how gentle, sweet or helpful the animal is. For now, Schludermann’s case rests on a simple argument: “The goats haven’t harmed anybody.” Whether council agrees they pose no issue could decide who pays for what happens next.
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Leslie Kennedy served as an editor at Thomson Reuters and for Star Media Group, followed by a number of years as a writer and editor and content manager in marketing communications, before returning to her editorial roots. She is a graduate of Humber College’s post-graduate journalism program and has been a professional writer and editor ever since.
