The owners of dogs who have bitten people or other pets could soon face stringent new rules that will require them to post a warning sign on their property and outfit the animal itself with a tag identifying it as dangerous.

A report that will be debated by the licensing and standards committee next week proposes a series of new rules for dog’s that have either severely bitten a person or domestic animal or have bitten or attacked a person or domestic animal more than once, regardless of the severity of the incident.

The rules include a requirement for the owner to post a warning sign in a “conspicuous location” on their property and to have their dog wear a dangerous dog tag sold by the city.

As well, the rules would require that dangerous dogs be muzzled and leashed at all times when off the owner’s property and be microchipped so they can be easily identified and tracked.

Owners would also have to provide the city with proof that the dog has undergone professional training.

Some dog owners told CTV Toronto they were unsure about the proposal.

"There’s a few dogs here that are a bit terrifying and have attacked by dog,” Monica Sarkar, a dog owner at park in the city, told CTV Toronto.

“Putting a sign on someone’s lawn saying ‘my dog’s aggressive’ – I wouldn’t like that, would you?” one woman said.

“I think it sounds really archaic,” another dog owner said. “It reminds me of the Scarlett Letter.”

Mary-Jo Pitfield, whose son was bitten by a Doberman, says identifying dangerous dogs makes sense.

“I think it’s a good idea. If I had a dangerous dog, I’d want to warn people too.”

“An estimated 230,000 dogs live in Toronto, the majority of which co-exist with other people and pets with minimal impacts. Despite this, there continue to be issues with some dogs that put public safety at risk,” the report states. “The proposed changes are intended to strengthen the city's ability to identify and limit dogs that are deemed dangerous.”

In addition to the new rules for owners of dangerous dogs, the report also advocates amending the municipal code to give bylaw enforcement officers authority to enter onto private property to ensure compliance.

The report will be debated at the licensing and standards committee on Sept. 21.

With files from Natalie Johnson