Should dogs be kept on the lead in the park?
Manchester City Council are taking the initiative in a new drive to enforce dog owners to keep their dogs on a lead whilst in the park.
They propose to stop dogs running loose completely in 15 parks, and in selected areas in 97 others and dogs will be banned completely from play areas.
Dogs will be excluded from play areas, sports grounds and cemeteries and there will be a limit on the number of dogs people can take on public land.
The parks highlighted include parts of Heaton Park - one of the largest municipal parks in Europe, Ardwick Green Park, Beech Road park in Chorlton and Sackville Street.
There would be an on the spot fine of £80 for those dog owners found with dogs off the lead.
Manchester City Council says the ban will help tackle dog fouling and the problem of stray dogs.
The council currently spend £33,000 on cleaning up dog fouling, £100,000 on dog services like dog wardens who round up 1,000 stray dogs per year.
Councillor Paul Murphy, executive member for Direct Services, said:
“We know that we need to take further steps to control dogs as all the feedback that we get from talking to residents has identified dog fouling and stray dogs as a real problem.
“Most dog owners in the city are considerate and responsible but as always a minority do not care and it is this minority that we want to tackle with these new proposals.”
Keeping dogs on leads in parks would also increase safety for children, the elderly joggers and cyclists.
khealey on February 16th 2007 in In the News
Joanne Blakey said on 18 Jun 2007 at 1:24 pm #
Can I ask where are dogs allowed to be off-lead in the area? I am sure you are aware how vital it is for dogs to be able to exercise fully, anyone who knows anything about dogs knows this cannot be done unless they are off-lead. I personally have a Lurcher and there is no way I could keep up with her running around, and she can walk for miles and miles and miles….. I certainly cannot. If dogs are not given the ability to exercise it can lead to health concerns, as well as unsocialized, disobedient dogs. Is that what we would prefer? I wouldn’t! This can all be solved if there are designated areas for dogs to be allowed to be exercised within a fully enclosed area (free from cars, etc.), also keeping them seperated from children, the elderly, wildlife and so on. I do understand your arguement about keeping dogs seperate from those groups, however, dogs deserve a life also and we cannot expect England (a pet loving nation) to lock away our pets and only walk them around on a lead. Would you like to be tied up when your outside? No of course not.
Cities have to come up with at least one dog area per city to allow dogs to exercise and play. Most dog owners are responsible and do pick up after their dogs, keep in mind that if you have an enclosed dog area dog owners then have to visit that area to exercise our dogs and we don’t want to be standing around with poop everywhere. However, there are the few that ruin it for the rest of us, fine them, hit them where it hurts-their pockets. But don’t spoil it for the majority who are responsible pet owners. There are 6.5 million dogs in Britain, keep in mind there are only 4 million people living in Scotland. That gives you a better idea, this nation loves our dogs and we don’t want to be cruel and muzzle them or give them no exercise/not enough exercise.
Being a parent and a dog owner, I just want areas within cities for my children to play and exercise without our dog or other dogs running about them, and an area for my dog to play and exercise without children. All over the world there are parks for dogs seperate from public parks. Why can’t we adapt that here, we are infact civilized, just slow to adapt I think.