AT last Redland City Council is getting tough on dog owners.
It will crack down on people taking dogs to the weekend Cleveland markets by enforcing a bylaw that few business people knew much about.
But is the crack down on target?
Are the Cleveland markets one of the worst places to see people failing to control their domestic pets? If the markets are bad, it is a surprise to the Redland City Bulletin.
We receive numerous complaints and letters about dogs off-leash.
The hot spots, according to our readers, are the Cleveland showgrounds, North Stradbroke Island, Wellington Point, Ormiston, Alexandra Hills, Thornlands and Redland Bay. We have not received a complaint nor letter to the editor about the markets though plenty take their dogs.
An unnamed council spokesperson says staff have received complaints although this view is opposed by traders who say it is a non issue.
If there is a problem, good on the council for tackling it.
This newspaper has campaigned long and hard for council to do more policing in regard to recalcitrant dog and cat owners. Subsequently, it makes the markets’ story a vexed issue for us as well.
We know that domestic pet impacts on wildlife are large.
We have also reported on people who have been attacked and pestered by dogs whose selfish owners feel it is their right to let them run free or have them pester people and other animals at the end of long leashes.
Policing is a time consuming, expensive and frustrating issue for every level of government. For example, an issue running locally with 4WD owners is the policing of those who alter their vehicles to improve their bush-bashing qualities.
Yet there is no social media campaign from owners thanking authorities for moves to protect the safety of drivers and passengers or for the standardisation of regulations between states. There are only complaints.
It is for this reason – and the fact that societal views on companion animals visiting all sorts of places are changing – that we have some sympathy for the council.
We hope the council has the dog issue at Cleveland right else it will look like it has settled on an easy target rather than having staff out on suburban footpaths and in conservation reserves at 5pm when many problems arise with recalcitrant canine owners.
