I've tried to keep out of this - so apologies for some propositions.
Signs work - not perfectly but well with the support of enough local dog
owners. Think how "picking-up" dog poo has improved all over the advanced
economies. Not perfect, but far better.
(And it is a mark of the majority's failure - not of our indigenous
inhabitants - that this risk often goes unchecked in Aboriginal communities
which of course used to be nomadic, not "setttled").
Targetted enforcement surely helps but most authorities have far less to
spend on enforcement than is needed to satisfy magistrates that prosecution
is justified.
But there is an underlying problem with our demographics and riches.
Apparently more is now spent in Australia on "pet care" than on "child care"
(definitions??). One of my constituents' strongest arguments is that dogs
promote social interaction (so I wear my bins a lot of the time).
Partly this is due to household formation (and splitting) where people (not
tied to computers and the TV) want company (and their 'rights' in face of
'the system'). It's then also partly about identity (who am I? I'd love to
be wild but urban life....): grandchild when the young have no arrived? how
I would like my kids to be (when there are no kids)? "Family" when we
haven't had time to build one...?
You can argue about being wedded to the TV/internet is better or worse than
caring for pets . And how concerns for nature are not part of the equation.
But have to face how having a dog facilitates speaking to others (many
urbanites do not know our neighbours).
But YOU can (and I really back those who have) keep in front of your local
Council again and again what this is about. Formal Public Questions and
petitions (and don't give up) are a way to go.
Your dog owning, local Councillor, advocate for good enough off-leash areas
(but not too many)!
And anyhow keeping on advocating for our natural treasures.!
Michael Norris
Bayside, Melbourne
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