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