Pet owners must do their duty

ONCE again, we come across another irresponsible pet owner in the case of the dog attack on Dhiya Qairina outside her home (“Girl in hospital after dog attack” – The Star, March 20).

Why can’t pet owners learn from previous cases reported in the newspapers from time to time? Just apologising to the victims or paying for their medical bills cannot be the solution.

Pet owners must realise that animals are unpredictable, and the onus is on them to be totally responsible for their pets’ actions.

I am a dog owner, too, and I have trained my pet from young never to roam outside the boundary of the house gate on its own.

My dog is a small-sized mongrel, but whenever l take it for a stroll I ensure that it is properly leashed, lest any unpredictable situations arise.

I love my pet, but I must also respect other people’s right to move around public areas without any fear of dog attacks.

However, sad to say, l have seen many dog owners from my neighbourhood who do not think the same way.

In fact, I had a few tiffs with some dog owners who brought their dogs to the public park and released the dogs to roam around freely. And most of the time, the animals will defecate in that area.

These pet owners blatantly disregard other park users’ right to use the recreational park without fear.

There is a pet owner with two large dogs, one a German Shepherd, who frequently lets his dogs roam around freely in the park, especially during the late evenings.

Many a time when l arrive at the park to jog and I see those two large dogs running around, I have to change my mind about jogging in the park for fear of being chased by these animals.

There is a couple that’s very fond of tying their pet dog to one of the benches meant for park users to sit on and relax.

This couple and their two children will leave the dog there and go jogging elsewhere in the park.

When l approached them regarding this matter, the husband refused to look at me and continued with his activity. His wife retorted by saying: “We are not the only ones doing this. Other people are doing the same thing.”

Yes, another lady dog owner is very fond of tying her dogs to the situp benches provided by the municipal council for park users to exercise. She will leave the dogs there and go on her jogging rounds, which means that people are deprived of the usage of these facilities.

I saw one of her dogs defecating by the side of the sit-up benches.

Then, there is this dog owner who trains his dog to use the park as a place to defecate. He takes his dog there a few times a day for it to empty its bowels.

I have forwarded such matters a couple of times to MPSJ through their SMS 15888 service, but l have received no response nor seen any action taken to date.

Besides requesting that enforcement officers nab these irresponsible pet owners, l also recommended that signboards be placed prominently to warn dog owners against bringing their dogs to public recreational parks.

l certainly hope that MPSJ is not waiting for a dog attack to happen in my neighbourhood park before taking action.

SUSAN WLL, Puchong.