Dog owners must keep pets on a lead

I AM pleased to have the opportunity to express my dislike of dogs that are allowed to roam freely, especially in parks and public places.

From my experience, dog owners seem to think that everyone else is fond of their canine pet when, in fact, many of us find dogs a nuisance, intrusive, disobedient and intimidating, especially the risk of them jumping up at you, possibly wet and with muddy paws!

I remember my granddaughter was particularly scared of dogs, having had a bad experience once, and even now is nervous of other people’s pets.

Leads should, therefore, be compulsory in all parks, public places and the countryside, especially where farm animals graze.

In some cases they should be banned from beaches. I have witnessed owners with several dogs off the leash and they cannot possibly reliably clean up after them.

We have also seen dog-poo bags discarded when on country walks. Obviously, the few disrespectful dog owners give others a bad name. However, dog faeces is potentially dangerous for children and this poses a health issue, particularly in parks where children are playing.

If it wasn’t for a massive, well organised dog-walkers’ protest we would by now have had a leisure complex built in our park which would have only taken up a small part of the green area.

They feared losing this facility.

Dog walkers seem to think that the parks are only there for them. I am sure that there are urban areas where owners only have streets to exercise their dogs in.

Some parks do require dogs to be on leads but this regulation needs to be more comprehensively imposed.

Mrs Green by email