A recurrent subject, but an interesting one. I had already made a submission to this review protesting against a 66% reduction in off-lead areas in my own neighbourhood. Of course I agree that wetlands and other sensitive bird areas are unsuitable for free-running dogs. However, closure of any areas should be linked to the designation of other areas, certainly the retention of all non-sensitive ones. That means that expert advice should be brought to bear in investigating which open spaces fall into which category, a question on which different views are possible. Of course if you take the position that dogs should not exist or should not be seen out of doors, you will not be interested in that conversation.
From: Ian Fraser [
Sent: Tuesday, 29 July 2014 9:40 AM
To: Cog line
Subject: [canberrabirds] dogs and wetlands
This is a particularly pertinent reference from a few years back. The study demonstrated that walking even leashed dogs in wetland and other areas had significant negative impact on the presence of birds.
Banks P and Bryant J, December 2007. Four-legged friend or foe? Dog walking displaces native birds from natural areas. Biology Letters 3 (6).
Ian
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Ian Fraser,
Environment Tours; Vertego Environmental Consultancy
PO Box 4148, Weston Creek, ACT 2611
ph: 61 2 6287 4813
Blog: http://ianfrasertalkingnaturally.blogspot.com.au
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