On Feb 1, 2008 3:46 PM, kurtis Lindsay <> wrote:
> Wildlife aren't people, hence a dog owner can't just tell the nesting
> shorebirds that their beloved Rover is friendly.... won't hurt you.....
> toilet trained....has a lovely nature etc".
>
> I say Dogs should be banned from all beaches, and bushland parks and
> reserves.
Sigh. Well, that's not going to happen. Pragmatically, people have
dogs and dogs need exercise. If you've ever lived with or cared for a
dog, you'll know that a run on the beach is about the best thing that
can happen for a dog. Here's what I hope for (and see some of)
* Dogs and dog owners are given reasonable opportunities to exercise
their dogs in environments with lower risks to native wildlife.
* Dog owners behave responsibly: control their dogs, keep them out of
areas where they aren't allowed, and clean up after them.
* Council/Parks applies an escalating series of fines for violaters.
(We've got one dog owner near here that is incorrigible - he refuses
to restrain or train his dogs....he faces a $500 fine the next time
one of his dogs is spotted in the dunes.)
* Schools run programs educating people about wildlife. For example,
people are forever saying that when their dogs chase a group of
resting birds that they're all just "playing" and that it is "fun".
That's so profoundly stupid the most charitable thing you can say is
it's "ignorant". I also am forever being told "the birds aren't doing
anything." Yes they are, they're resting. Resting is a pretty
important activity to animals that have to moult, breed, feed
themselves, face the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune in all
its many forms, and (particularly for beach-going birds), migrate.
I've lived in coastal communities in a few locations where dog owners
were progressively refused access to more and more public land. What
happened when responsible owners had fewer and fewer places to run
their dogs lawfully? They started taking them wherever was most
convenient. If it's going to be illegal anyway, way make any effort to
go out of your way. Since people have dogs and dogs need exercise, you
need to accommodate that. The 'dog parks' many urban councils around
the world are building are a fantastic solution. Apart from giving
owners a safe, wildlife-free place to run their dogs, it also allows
owners to better socialize their dogs. Dogs that don't learn to
interact with other dogs at an early age can cause all sorts of
problems...dog parks (and other public spaces for dogs) are one easy
way to give dogs more time socializing.
For the record, I don't have a dog but do walk a couple of dogs every
day. These dogs are taken to areas they're allowed, kept on a lead,
and get picked up after while on my watch. I don't pretend they're nut
hunters, that's their nature.
If dogs are outlawed only outlaws will have dogs ;-)
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