DLR Harbour Company Meeting

Dogs Unleashed will hold informal discussions with DLR Harbour Company next week to open negotiations, on behalf of members of our organisation, to amend yet another highly-restrictive bye-law on Dog Control within their remit. This bye-law states:

Under Dun Laoghaire Harbour Bye Laws No. 93 (1) "No person shall bring into or allow to remain within the Harbour any dog unless it is on a leash and no person shall, anywhere within the Harbour where a notice prohibiting the admission of dogs is exhibited or displayed, cause or allow any dog in their charge to enter or remain there".

Of particular note are three DLR elected Councillors, Carrie Smyth, Jane Dillon-Byrne and Victor Boyhan, who are directors on the board of this authority and who represent the electorate of DLR for this well-paid additional privilege.

We are now calling our members and supporters to openly endorse the aims of Dogs Unleashed, as we progress negotiations with all stakeholders, in seeking fair and balanced bye-laws, and, in the best interests of all communities who enjoy our open spaces

RESPONSE BY THE CHAIRMAN OF DOGS UNLEASHED TO THE STATEMENT BY COUNCILLOR HUMPHREYS.

                       

RESPONSE BY THE CHAIRMAN OF DOGS UNLEASHED TO THE STATEMENT BY COUNCILLOR HUMPHREYS.

Thursday 19 January, 2012

 We are very much in agreement with Councillor Humphreys and the rest of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown Council that dog walkers have a responsibility to keep dogs under effective control and clean up after their dogs. Indeed, by not doing so they discredit  other dog owners  and offend the general public.  We also agree that in designated swimming areas dogs should not be allowed to run free when they may cause inconvenience to swimmers.  

 However, it is quite true that we are very disappointed in the re-drafting of the bye-laws, and we regard the concessions to dog walkers as paltry.  This is because we do not understand the rationale of making it an offense to walk your dog off a leash outside designated swimming areas so long as dogs are within the owners’ control.  We do not regard the right to walk our dogs off a leash on certain beaches, before 10 and after 7pm only, as a major concession.  We would point out to Councillor Humphreys that in the winter and when the weather is inclement in the summer, dog walkers are probably the only users of beaches (excepting Sandycove and Seapoint where there is year round swimming). In other counties around Dublin and indeed around Ireland dog walkers are not bound by punitive and restrictive bye-laws which amount to collective punishment, and yet these other locations manage to live in harmony with non-dog owners.  
 Please let us focus on the real anti-social element, not people who take their dog off a leash because they want to exercise themselves and their pet, but those who cause a public nuisance by not cleaning up or have nuisance dogs.  Please have trust in your voters because the majority of us act responsibly in public, and bye-laws that are overly restrictive and insult common sense will simply undermine the credibility of the bye-laws as a whole. We look forward to working in partnership with DLR CoCo and hope that the bye-laws can be amended in a way that cuts a fairer balance between dog walkers and anti-dog groups.

For more information, contact Liz Neligan, Chairperson, Dogs Unleashed at 087-244 9936

Irish Times Coverage

Good article in today's Irish Times about our very successful meeting yesterday:

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0123/1224310626535.html

Press Release: Dogs Unleashed Meeting in Killiney Castle Hotel

From: Liz Neligan, Chairperson, Dogs Unleashed Association

Tel: (087) 244 9936; E-mail: info@dogs-unleashed.org; Web: www.dogs-unleashed.org

January 2012

PRESS RELEASE

There was standing room only at the public meeting on the proposed revision of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Council’s dog control byelaws held at the Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel on Sunday 22^nd January.  Organised by the Dogs Unleashed Campaign Group, the meeting was chaired by ‘5^th generation Dalkey dog-walker’, as he styled himself, David McWilliams, and attracted some 600 members of the public.  Also attending were Councillors John Bailey, Maria Bailey, Cormac Devlin, Patricia Stewart, Lettie McCarthy and Barry Ward.

In her opening address, Dogs Unleashed Chairman, Liz Neligan, explained that the campaign had been disappointed by the limited concessions made in the redraft of the  beach bye-laws, the first set of bye-laws to be reviewed, which will be followed by a wider review covering the parks bye-laws.  While Seapoint and Sandycove will acquire the status of dog-free zones all year round, under the current proposals, Killiney Beach, beyond a designated swimming area, will be open to unleashed dog walking but only before 10 am and after 7pm.  The rationale of that stipulation, said Liz Neligan, was hard to understand since in inclement weather dog walkers tended to be the only people using the beaches.

In a well mannered and well organised meeting both the public and invited speakers, who included the vet Pete Wedderburn and the dog behaviourist Jim Stephens, made a number of constructive suggestions.  Do not rely on dog pens, said Stephens, as they are pitifully inadequate in size and in stimulation. Possibly use dog license money for dog training classes (a practice adopted in Germany) was suggested by the assistant of a dog rescue centre.  Remember that working dogs, such as mountain rescue dogs, have to be able to run free off a leash for their sanity, came as an impassioned plea from the floor. Several speakers from the floor hoped the campaign would take in the question of walking dogs on Dun Laoghaire’s two piers as the Harbour Authority have threatened to enforce their leashing requirements more rigorously as of next week. 

When David McWilliams asked everyone present to indicate whether they were prepared to write to the Council to ask that the bye-laws be liberalised - the deadline for doing so is February 20^th at 12 noon - there was a massive show of hands. Having the freedom to walk with your dog off a lead is clearly highly valued. It should not be confused, said Liz Neligan, with the more serious issue, that affects all members of the public, of dog fouling.  Dog walkers, said Williams, tend to be moderate and the aim of Dog Unleashed was to hit the ‘sweet spot’ where the sensibilities of non-enthusiasts were met without compromising the cherished and time-honoured practice going out for a walk with one’s dog.

ENDS