The thing to remember about the uproar over Cody the dog is that it wasn鈥檛 really about the dog. When the city鈥檚 animal-control department ordered the much-loved golden retriever off the sidewalk outside its owner鈥檚 Fort Street store last year, what was unleashed (other than the dog) was the anger of people who had come to believe there are two sets of rules in Victoria: One for those who put their heads down and go to work each day, who pay their taxes and who generally go about their lives unnoticed by those in power, and another for those who flout the law with impunity.
Cody, whose death was reported in Tuesday鈥檚 paper, was a Fort Street fixture who filled the doorway of Charmaine鈥檚 Past and Present store for 13 years prior to May 2016, when he was ordered off the sidewalk by the animal-control department.
After someone on social media posted 鈥� inaccurately 鈥� that Cody鈥檚 owner, Charmaine Britton, had been given a fine, not a warning, a firestorm ensued. Victorians were incensed, contrasting Britton鈥檚 treatment with what was seen as unchecked lawlessness downtown.
Posters wanted to know why the city was cracking down on sleeping dogs while tolerating open drug use, aggressive panhandling and assaults. Most importantly, they wanted to know why city hall was coming down on Cody while appearing either unable or unwilling to come to grips with the dysfunction radiating from Victoria鈥檚 tent city, which at that point looked like a saga that would never end.
Support for Cody poured in from around the world: Italy, Zimbabwe, Uruguay, South Africa. Lawyers volunteered to take Cody鈥檚 case. Strangers offered to pay any fines. Two limousine companies offered to chauffeur him.
Victoria鈥檚 Ryan Painter collected thousands of names on a petition asking city council to grant an exemption that would let the dog lie outside the store without being leashed to a person, as the law requires.
City hall was in a no-win situation. Columnist Jack Knox described Cody as 鈥渢he canine equivalent of the Dalai Lama 鈥� old, gentle, serene, calming, adored 鈥� greyer than second-term Obama, less threatening than the Canucks鈥� power play.鈥� What politician can contend with that? Councillors stubbornly did their best, arguing that being beloved doesn鈥檛 constitute a valid reason to ignore the law.
Fine, but here鈥檚 what else can鈥檛 be ignored: The perception that in focusing so much on those who struggle in the margins, some elected officials have taken for granted 鈥� even been dismissive of 鈥� those who live in the middle. That sentiment emerged around tent city, around Topaz Park and, most recently, the social-services projects whose neighbours complain of unfulfilled promises.
Cody wasn鈥檛 just a dog. He was an unlikely, gentle symbol of unrest.
