A RESIDENT has complained about dogs left to run off-leash in the Scribbly Gums Conservation Area at Alexandra Hills, saying dog owners are spoiling it for others.
Kerry Dunn said some dog owners thought it was a great place to take dogs off-leash but this endangered other users.
“We recently spent a very frantic 21 hours wondering if we would still have a dog after she was set upon by two unleashed dogs, slipped her leash and took off in fright,” Ms Dunn said.
“...We are now too afraid to take her for walks in the bush, walks we used to really enjoy.”
Cr Murray Elliott said over the past two years, 59 patrols had been conducted of the area and no infringement notices issued to dog owners as all animals had been sighted on leash.
Cr Murray said council would organise a blitz of the area over the next three months.
This would see officers patrol the reserve. They would would talk with owners about their obligations and take action if dogs were found off-leash.
Ms Dunn said the issue had followed another attack only one month before by yet another unleashed dog and many other people reported the same incidents.
She said her family’s dog was returned through the Lost Pet Coordinator Facebook page with puncture wounds
“The comments on our post suggest there are many similar instances, especially involving small dogs being attacked by big off-leash dogs,” she said.
“It doesn’t matter how well-behaved you think your dog is or how many people you think you might encounter, you are endangering the safety of other dogs, their owners and bike-riders by allowing your dog to be off-leash. Not only that, you are breaking the law.
“Do you really want to be the selfish dog-owner responsible for the death or injury to a much-loved pet or a serious accident to a bike rider?”
Cr Elliott said only three formal complaints had been lodged on the issue in two years.
As a result of these complaints, 10 patrols were undertaken, with nine dogs sighted, all of which were on leads.
When this article was published on the Redland City Bulletin website it attracted a raft of complaints about loose dogs in a range of suburbs.
So much wildlife has been killed by dogs on North Stradbroke Island that Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation has suggested it is time to investigate the idea of banning cats and dogs.
