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Do right with dogs
Uncontrolled and sometimes intimidating dogs around
the city are worrying the Council’s Animal Control section
and the City Council has asked staff to look at measures
to crack down on unruly dogs in public areas. Council staff have been getting complaints about dog
owners failing to keep their dogs under effective control
in many of the city's parks and on the streets. If a dog is running around amongst other park users,
away from its owner, it is not under control. The Council
says owners must not let their dogs intimidate or annoy
other park users if they want to continue having access
to places where leashes are not required. It is possible
that dogs could be banned from these parks if owners do
not respect the rights of other users. At last month’s meeting of the Christchurch City
Council, councillors told the staff to investigate a bylaw
which would make it illegal for dogs to be out without a
leash. According to staff who take calls from the public, many
people find it frightening when an unknown dog rushes
up to them, even if its owner is in sight. Because they do
not know the dog, the callers say, they are scared the dog
might bite them or their children. Other callers say they talked to a dog owner who
would not understand that their dog’s behaviour is not
acceptable. Animal control officers are patrolling areas that have
been complained about and will issue infringement
notices to owners who don’t keep their dogs under strict
control. These have a penalty of $200. Dog owners should visit the Council’s Dog Park at the
Styx Mill Reserve on Hussey Road, which has a large
fenced free run dog area and ponds for the animals to
swim in. Other good places with facilities for dogs are
The Groynes off Johns Road, Horseshoe Lake off
Horseshoe Lake Road, Burwood Plantation off Waitakiri
Drive, Radley Park off Cumor Tce, Victoria Park and
Halswell Quarry off Kennedys Bush Road. |