Man Bites Dogs

Richard Humphreys

Has Labour councillor Richard Humphreys been bitten by a rabid dog? How else can one explain his unprovoked attacks on the Dogs Unleashed organisation. His frothing effusions can be found in the current edition of LifeTimes (South-East) and on his web site: http://richardhumphreys.blogspot.ie/

 He characterises the Dogs Unleashed organisation as a "highly organised, well-heeled minority" who generate a "loud volume of noise and misinformation", and later refers to them as "those who scream the loudest". All this about a group that is merely exercising its democratic right to canvass Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council (DLR) about proposed changes to its beach bye-laws.

This decent and responsible group are representative of a wide cross-section of society - and are far from "well-heeled" in most cases (a crime it seems in Humphreys' book). Dog lovers are in fact an amiable and democratic bunch who come from gated mansions, solid middle-class estates, and council-houses.  Far from "screaming", they presented their case in a coherent and well-argued fashion, complete with endorsements from leading vets. A fine example, I would have thought, of local democracy at work.

 The most disturbing part of Humphreys' triumphalist rant is that it fails to mention that the final decision by DLR last week represented not a complete victory for either side but a compromise. Both sides had to make concessions. Dogs Unleashed lost the battle for Seapoint (and its equally well-organised swimmers) but won the right to exercise dogs off leash on Killiney Beach. 

The Dogs Unleashed organisation has over 5,000 members in DLR. A public meeting in Killiney Castle Hotel drew over 700 attendees. All of them felt strongly about the proposed new bye-laws and did what they could to change them by canvassing their local councillors. This I believe is what democracy is all about and should be applauded by our public representatives, not decried and sneered at. The Labour party is in enough trouble without alienating citizens who express views contrary to one of its councillors. His intolerance of democracy in action, and Tory Boy antics, would seem more suited to some right-wing group.

Tory Boy

Democratic Deficit for Dogs in Dun Laoghaire

What is going on in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council?

Citizens with respect for democracy are puzzled by the tactics being used by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Council over the amendment of their Beach Bylaws in relation to dog leashing.  The Council were delighted, evidently, with the active response of so many people to their consultation process.  Altogether 589 people responded in writing to the proposed amendments, a much higher than usual degree of public engagement. 

However, they hit a spot of bother when only 16 of this number supported the reforms, some of them saying they did not go far enough.  This tiny group included the Seapoint Swimmers Association who wish to see dogs banned completely from Seapoint, Salthill and Sandycove all year round. They say, they are a danger to swimmers, to the elderly, and to children. Toxocara, an infection that affects 0.006% of the population a year, and dog attacks on beaches, two of which have been reported to DLR over the last three years (no injuries involved), were cited as the main dangers that dogs pose.

Of the remaining 573 who were critical of the DLR reforms, 220 specifically mentioned Dog Unleashed’s proposals as being fairer to all members of the community. It seemed particularly eccentric, many said, that the proposed bye-laws continued to insist that dogs be on a leash during daylight hours, all year round on a large beach like Killiney. On most days, given our less than brilliant weather, dog walkers are the only people on such beaches. At Seapoint and Sandycove, most agreed that restrictions were necessary so that people could be allowed to swim in peace.  In these locations Dogs Unleashed accepted that dogs must be kept on a lead, and at Sandycove banned altogether during summer months from 10am to 7pm .

Since the Dogs Unleashed proposals are fairly moderate, since they have over 4000 signatures behind their campaign, and given the overwhelming majority of support they received during the DLR consultation process, you might think that DLR would feel emboldened to follow the lead of public opinion.  But not a bit of it.  The public it seems were off-message, and the consultation process has now been extended, superseding the accepted procedure in a most undemocratic way. Lobby groups are being invited to attend a Special Consultation Committee so the Council can carefully weigh the demands of the Seapoint Swimmers, (a tiny minority) as well as the support of the County Manager (not a dog lover apparently) against  other users of the County’s beaches whom they are doing their best to banish.

The Council could have gained public support for this contentious issue by introducing bye-laws that have a logic that everyone understands, but this is looking increasingly unlikely.  The focus, says Dogs Unleashed Chairperson, Liz Neligan, should be on the issue that everyone is concerned about, which is irresponsible dog walkers who don’t pick up after their dog. ‘We are exerting pressure on dog walkers to be more responsible and already DLR staff tell us they can see a difference. Restrictive bye-laws that are divisive and hard to enforce are not the answer.  Beaches are for everyone,’ she says. ‘We are attending the Special Consultation Committee, of course we are, but we feel now that however reasonable our demands, they are falling on deaf ears.’

Submit and Subsidise

You have to laugh, albeit ruefully, at the brazen chutzpah of DLR County Council.  It has postponed until after the summer any decision on leashing on our beaches - despite our constructive lobbying and the massive support within the borough for liberalising the beach byelaws.  More recently it has decided to ban our attempts at fund-raising on Hyde Road on the 26th May.


Having refused us on a number of spurious bureaucratic grounds it compounds the insult by suggesting we might like to hold it in a dog pound. I quote:

• "However, if you wish to pursue the matter, we will consider your event in one the dogs off leash areas in one of our parks at Shangangh Park, Cabinteely Park, Deerpark or Marlay."

These are the very areas we are seeking to render redundant by allowing our dogs run free in designated areas.

And then it applies the coup de grace by suggesting that we pay our household charges (see below) - all the better, no doubt, to subsidise its undemocratic activities.

Household Charge - Funding Local Services

Thank you if you have paid the €100 charge.

If you have not paid, and you wish to avoid accumulating late payment fees and interest, please register and pay for your household charge without delay, on www.householdcharge.ie

Sindo's Attack Dog Joins Our Pack

It's nice to see that the Sunday Independent's in-house rottweiler has come out on the side of the angels.  Here's an extract from Eoghan Harris's article in last Sunday's paper:

BIG life must not dominate small life. Denis O'Brien and RTE demand my attention. But so do Posy and Dolly, my two terriers. Recently their right to run on Seapoint's long rocky strand in winter was being threatened by beach bullies.Dun Laoghaire Council bans dogs from the bathing coves of Seapoint and Sandycove in summer. That's fine. But a few months ago it proposed to ban dogs off the leash from the long strands of Seapoint and Killiney in the equally long winter months.Thanks to Liz Neligan's Dogs Unleashed campaign, the council is now offering further consultation. So I will put the pike back in the thatch. Let me now turn to Fine Gael and RTE's fraught relationship with the people of Ireland.

DLR Prevaricate on Beach Bye Laws

The following press release from DLR suggests a summer of discontent for all dog lovers in the area:

PRESS RELEASE

Friday 30th March 2012

 

Council invites in Stakeholders for further debate around Beach Bye Laws

 

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has announced that following a period of public consultation on Draft Bye Laws proposed to amend the existing regulations regarding the control of dogs on beaches, a range of interested parties will be invited into County Hall to engage in further debate around the issue.

Under the current bye-laws “no person shall take or allow to enter on a beach any animal which is under their ownership or control during the hours of 10.00 a.m. and 7.00 p.m. June to September inclusive.”  At all other time dogs must be kept on a leash. Under the new Draft Bye-Laws it is proposed that dogs will be allowed off-leash outside of the designated bathing areas at certain times, which is less restrictive than the current regulations.

 

A spokesperson for DLR says that the Council “is delighted to see a very real engagement with the consultation process, which has generated almost 600 submissions representing a wide and diverse range of opinions.” The Council is proposing to invite in a number of stakeholder groups selected from these submissions, to present their views to a meeting of one of the Council’s Strategic Policy Committees in June. The Strategic Policy Committee comprises Elected Members of the Council as well as representatives from various interest groups in the County.

The Council has repeatedly stated that it wants to achieve a balance between the needs of all beach users, engaging in a consultation process that values the opinions of dog owners, swimmers, walkers and all beach users alike. It is expected that the report on the 599 submissions and the follow up report of the Strategic Policy Committee will be presented to a full Council Meeting later in the year.

In the meantime, the Council says that its Council Wardens will enforce the current Beach Bye Laws as laid down in the regulations.

 

ENDS

 

For further information contact : Communications Office: commsoffice@dlrcoco.ie/ Tel: 2047090

 

SS Rebuttal from Concerned Citizen

This is an extract from a letter written to DLR by a local concerned at the high-handed antics of the Seapoint Swimmers (SS):

Re: Seapoint Swimmers

Dear Sir,

I was astonished to discover that a group describing itself as the ‘Seapoint Swimmers’ has petitioned the council to purge Seapoint, Sandycove and Salthill beaches of dogs, at all times, and without exception.

This kind of lobbying is wholly objectionable. No group has the right to privatise public space, excluding individual members of the community on the thinnest of pretexts, let alone personal and psychological ones.

The same wearily familiar objections have been wheeled out yet again: that dogs are a fouling nuisance and a persistent menace to the safety and well being of any human unfortunate to come within their proximity.

Obviously the Seapoint Swimmers are too busy to let a few bothersome facts interfere with their prejudices: dog attacks are vanishingly rare and none have taken place on these beaches at all. The vast majority of responsible pet owners have their dogs under control at all times, so the spectacle of some canicular torrent sundering the limbs of anyone in its way owes much more to fevered imagination than recorded fact.

The same goes for fouling: most dog owners are scrupulous in removing their dogs’ leavings, and are even more sensitised to the need to do so on beaches. There are some, regrettably, who let the side down, and dog owners would be the first to shop these reprobates. But it’s simply unacceptable policy to inflict draconian punishments on an entire sub-group without even exploring the alternatives.

The Dogs Unleashed campaign is a powerful association with both the means and the motivation to ensure responsible dog ownership is embedded at all levels and in all locations. Rather than indulging the absurd panic-mongering of the Seapoint Swimmers and their private phobias, I strongly urge you to consult with the one mainstream body capable of making a lasting difference to all stakeholders.

There are times when dog owners, quite rightly, feel worn down with all this needless vilification. 

Yours faithfully

The SS Threat

We would like to draw your attention to an association called the Seapoint Swimmers (SS), claiming to represent  ‘the interest of the swimmers and users of Seapoint swimming facility’, who have put in a proposal in March to the council to make Seapoint, Salthill and  Sandycove  beaches completely dog free all year round.

Dogs Unleashed, on the other hand, propose that these beaches be dealt with as follows:

• Dogs on a leash at all times within the designated bathing area at Seapoint beach
• Dogs off-leash and under effective control at all times beyond any designated bathing area, (including the adjacent Salthill beach)
• Dogs on leash, within the designated bathing area of Sandycove and Killiney beaches for the summer holiday/lifeguard patrol season only

If the council decide to support the Seapoint Swimmers it will be very difficult in the future to get this ruling reversed. If this is something you feel strongly about we again ask you to write to your councillors stating that Seapoint Swimmers do not represent your views, as our elected representatives you call on them to take your view into account and request that they liaise with Dogs Unleashed to find an amicable outcome that will include all users of the beaches at all times of the year.