ADDING BITE TO FINE BARK

WITH an estimated 30,000 unregistered dogs in the city, the council isn’t just tasked with putting a leash on errant owners who have slipped through the gaps.

Instead, it has to deal with a virtual stampede of dog owners pouring through a gaping hole, cocking their legs on authority and all the rest who do the right thing.

Paying your way is important for the system to work. It goes with owning a dog.

But the real issue is safety and, as reported today, there has been a 12 per cent increase in complaints of dog attacks and aggression since 2013. Meanwhile the human population has soared from more than 540,000 to almost 607,000. Alongside all those people live 106,800 dogs.

The council says 60,000 canines are registered. That’s a good start to funding animal control services, but evidently plenty of dog owners take the rest of the population for mugs and do not care, or perhaps are struggling financially, or live in gated communities or high rise towers and think they are somehow exempt, or are genuinely unaware of their obligation to register. Such ignorance is puzzling, because registration fees have been around since before most of us were born.

The council plans to double fines for not registering dogs, and other offences. It will tighten the lead on barking dogs too, giving officers the power to make a decision and fine on the spot rather than wait for three complaints from separate neighbours.

Fines and laws with bite are aimed at ensuring safety and giving neighbours a bit of peace and quiet.

But while Cr Hermann Vorster, who is leading the crackdown, is in this frame of mind, he should also ensure owners are cleaning up their pets’ faeces.

Most do – and the bags provided by the city along major pathways and in parks are a huge and easy incentive.

But some do not and they need to be brought into line. Sometimes they need their faces rubbed in it – figuratively, of course.