Crackdown on dogs and cats long needed | Editorial

Understandably, a few people are complaining about this as some sort of impact on their personal liberty.

They are wrong and council is right.

No authority can possibly hope to control such a contentious and potentially damaging issue like the ownership and control of cats and dogs without starting at the most basic point – knowing how many there are and where they are.

In a city of 150,000 no local authority can afford to let the issue of domestic pets spiral out of control, least of all Redlands where the council has an obligation to protect some especially important wildlife.

Onerous as it may be, the door knocking task is the easy part of dog and cat control.

As with illegal trail bikes, the hard and costly part is policing residents who choose not to do the right thing.

In the light of evidence from Cr Paul Golle and the Quandamooka people of North Stradbroke Island, some people who have commented on Facebook and who contacted the Redland City Bulletin appear to have little regard for city bylaws.

Not only that, some pet owners evidently have little to no consideration for fellow residents.

Golle has taken complaints of people being bitten by dogs left to run off-leash. He says that in one incident a resident was hospitalised due to a dog attack.

In some cases dog owners have abused others who have the temerity to reasonably ask that they should restrain their animal.

Some cat owners happily let their pet roam at night, knowing the toll from felines on wildlife.

It also is no more than a ruse – and illegal – for someone to put a lead on their dog and then let it run freely along the footpath.

None of us want big brother looking over our shoulder. We all aspire to small government and no one wants a nanny state but what options does council have in this situation?

Although some people have argued against further control, the fact is that council receives almost 4000 animal complaints annually.

At that rate it must act.

Moreover, it must put resources into the issue just as it must put more effort into illegal trail bike activities in conservation reserves across the city.