Dogs: Nothing to complain about?
Re your article from Central Coast Council regarding the problem population of dogs on the Peninsula, now and in the future, outlined in part in the Council's "Draft Dogs in Open Space Action Plan" currently on exhibition.
The Council draft outlines areas where dogs are excluded including National Parks, sand dunes and "Wildlife Protection Areas"(?), beaches "apart from areas designated as 'dog off-leash areas'".
I applaud Council ambition in limiting the intrusion into residents and walkers lives of these useless and annoying creatures, but who is going to enforce these bylaws and bring dogs under control?
Some dog owners care about the effect dogs have on so many residents and walkers and are responsible people.
Many however couldn't give a dogshit about other people.
Some dog people pick up the dog excrement and hang the bags (many supplied by our rates) on the beach and build lovely little tripods to suspend the turd bags from, or thoughtfully hang it from the fences (supplied by the ratepayer to keep people and their pests out of the dunes).
I suppose dog people think that in the dead of night the magical turd pixies will whisk the turds away.
Even the responsible person's dog is charging along the beach many meters from the leash and lay their smelly, steaming fundament in my space.
They sometimes apologise and are sometimes in the "off-leash" area.
They often pick it up in their bagged hand - delightful!
It makes me feel ill.
The only way to avoid dogs on the beach is to hit the beach while it is still dark, way too early for fluffy and rover to be out in the cold.
It would be interesting to know how much of our rates and taxes are spent on policy development and infrastructure supply for dog lovers.
How much does it cost to run the dog pound and how many of these critters brought as companions during the Covid lockdowns have been abandoned now they are no longer needed?
Then there are the neighbourhood dogs, one of them would follow me up and down the fence line and bark non-stop all day.
I work from home.
As soon as the "owners" arrive home, they shut up.
After constant complaints, we eventually resorted to Council's ranger, who arrived on scene while one neighbour was at home.
Dogs were silent.
The helpful council ranger told us we had nothing to complain about.
SOURCE:
Email, 7 Jul 2022
Bryan Ellis, Umina