Letter from Our Chairperson to Minister Simon Coveney

Dear Minister Coveney

I write to you as founder and chairperson of Dogs Unleashed, the citizens campaign in DunLaoghaire Rathdown County (DLR), by responsible dog owners, to amend local ‘dog control’ bye-laws that contravene as many as three of the five basic freedoms of all dogs.

DLR are currently reviewing our beach bye-laws and have offered dog owners one concession to allow us to exercise our dogs off-leash, outside designated bathing areas, before 10am and after 7pm. These proposed amendments are quite inadequate, unreasonable, in particular for the elderly and those who are handicapped, as well as being superficial and totally undermining responsible dog ownership. They completely fail to tackle the two key issues of dog fouling and the anti-social minority of irresponsible dog owners who actually allow their dogs to cause any sort of a nuisance or harm to the public.

We understand that the proposed Animal Welfare Bill will enshrine the Five Freedoms to all animals under human care into national legislation and ask you to request the Minister of the Environment to write to our County Manager asking how DLR proposes to accommodate their policies within the remit of the new bill.

As it stands now, 2009 beach bye-laws state that dogs must be on a leash at all times on all beaches

Also, 2003 parks bye-laws state that dogs must be on a leash at all times, with the exceptions of all of Killiney Hill and four undersized and completely inadequate dog areas in Deerpark, Marlay, Cabinteely and Shanganagh parks.

These laws and the proposed amendments stand in opposition to the widely accepted facts that confining a dog to a leash at all times on our beaches and in our parks is detrimental to animal welfare and to their freedom of expression. Vets and companion dog behaviorists advise that all dogs need the freedom to express normal behaviour such as sniffing, chasing, fetching, swimming, and socializing in the company of other dogs while under the effective control of their owners. These professionals further advise limited use of the totally inadequate spaces provided by DLR as harbingers of disease, and causes of physical and mental stress to dogs through concentrated usage. The DSPCA, ISPCA, Dogs Trust and others are supportive of our efforts in this regard.

Dogs Unleashed believes that everyone in society- and particularly those who make laws about them - has responsibilities towards animals. This responsibility depends upon citizens having sufficient knowledge and understanding of the impact of their actions on animal welfare. We have offered to work in partnership with our council and to develop programmes promoting responsible and accountable dog ownership in return for balanced and fair bye-laws that promote the many physical and mental health benefits of dogs in society. However, our offers to cooperate and to work in partnership have, thus far, been largely ignored. 

We ask for your attention to this matter, and invite you to contact us for any further information. We are at your disposal to sit down with you to discuss.

 
Sincerely
   Liz Neligan
 

  ----------------------------------------
  Liz Neligan
  Chairperson
  Ph: +353-87-244 9936 <tel:%2B353-87-244%209936>  <tel:%2B353-87-244%209936>
  www.dogs-unleashed.org <http://www.dogs-unleashed.org>  <http://www.dogs-unleashed.org> 

Irish Guide Dogs for Blind Looking for Volunteers

Volunteer Recruitment Evening - Dublin South
Wednesday 14 March, 2012
Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind is looking for volunteers to support their fundraising efforts in South Dublin

Join us on Wednesday, 14th March to find out how you can get involved. Meet some of our staff, volunteers and clients, including local fundraisers, who have been actively supporting us for many years. We have a host of exciting projects and events coming up and there's sure to be something of interest for everyone to get involved in.

Venue: Radisson Blu, St Helen's Hotel, Stillorgan, Dublin

Time: 8:00pm

RSVP: Finbarr Roche on  <mailto:finbarr@guidedogs.ie> finbarr@guidedogs.ie or call 1850 506 300.

If you can't attend on the night but would still like to volunteer, please call us to find out more about volunteering at Irish Guide Dogs.

Kind regards
Delia Webster
Communications
Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind
Model Farm Road, Cork
Tel: (021) 487 8203
Cell: 087 640 2716
E-mail: deliawebster@guidedogs.ie
Website: www.guidedogs.ie <http://www.guidedogs.ie/>

The Brady Bunch

An amusing article in yesterday's Dublin People on Cormac Brady's submission to DLR on the proposed amendments to the beach bye laws:  http://www.dublinpeople.com/article.php?id=890&l=100

Dentist Brady is chairperson of the Seapoint Swimmers association. He conflates grandiosely the narrow interests of the Seapoint Swimmers Association and the greater public good. He also seems to think that being "highly organised" is not a good thing. One fears for the smooth functioning of the association he chairs. He alludes to the "well connected" people who support the Dogs Unleashed campaign as if this in some way diminishes its case. We can only presume that the Seapoint Swimmers are all honest to God proles riding their rusty bikes to their daily ablutions. With enemies like Brady who needs friends.

DLR to Ban Walking Outdoors?

In its campaign to constrain our dogs DLR CC and certain councillors (step forward Mr. Humphreys) have painted a lurid picture of the clear and present danger presented by Toxocariasis. According to the latest statistics from the UK (see link below) your chances of being infected from dog faeces are 1 in 5,900,000 - let's say 1 in 6 million (there were 10 cases in a population of 59 million). Your chances of being struck by lightning are 1 in 500,000 (see second link below). Therefore we are twelve times more likely to be struck by lightning as we walk on our beaches. This does not of course mean that we should be blase about dog shit - but it does suggest that it's more an aesthetic issue than the brown plague intimated by the anti-dog lobby.

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Toxocariasis/Pages/Introduction.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning_strike

Cllr. Victor Boyhan's Support

CALL FOR COMMON SENSE TO PREVAIL – ON DOG DEBATE

Submissions deadline date: Monday 20th February 2012

Cllr. Victor Boyhan said he had only received one letter in favour of the proposed Beach Bylaws that cover the shoreline area of Booterstown, Blackrock, Seapoint, Sandycove, and Killiney. While hundreds of emails and letters had come into my office opposing the “unreasonable and irrational restriction on dogs and their owners”

“I have always found the Dogs Unleashed Citizens Campaign very willing to engage in a constructive way with the councillors and community groups in this debate. - I support their campaigns Key Objectives.”

“Their objectives are both fair and responsible, as a council we have a responsibility to listen and response to the needs of citizens and take on board their concerns.”

“I hope common sense will prevail and am again calling on all sides of this debate to actively engage with one and other with a view to finding a consensus that can be reflected in any new Beach Bye-Laws.” Cllr. Boyhan concluded.


HAVE YOUR SAY! – Last date for submissions is Monday 20th February 2012.


Cllr. Victor Boyhan

Independent County Councillor
Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council

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