Peninsula dog owners allowing pets to run wild, says foreshore ranger
AGGRESSIVE dog owners on the Mornington Peninsula are verbally abusing rangers and ignoring demands to rein in their dogs on on-lead beaches — and one ranger has broken ranks to suggest a fix.
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AGGRESSIVE animal owners are abusing foreshore rangers and ignoring demands to rein in their loose dogs on on-lead beaches.
A concerned ranger, who did not want to be named, has spoken out about a worrying increase in the amount of pooch people flagrantly disregarding dog laws on Mornington Peninsula foreshores.
He said not only were roaming dogs a danger to small children and wildlife, the owners were also difficult to deal with.
“We get abused quite regularly, we get laughed at, there are a lot of problems with people exploiting the system,” he said.
“We want dog owners to be more respectful, more responsible; we want to make beaches safe for everyone.
“Before long someone is going to get hurt by an off-leash dog that shouldn’t be, that is something I am really worried about.”
He called on the Mornington Peninsula Shire to run a “by-law” blitz ahead of summer, with authorised local laws officers patrolling prominent hot spots and booking offenders for not having their pooches on leads, or for allowing them to stray into protected areas.
“I firmly believe the only way you are going to have any effect on stopping this practice is to start fining people; hit them in the back pocket a few times and they might rethink their attitude,” he said.
“Just a couple of weeks with a compliance officer at each beach fining anyone with an off-lead dog would make a huge difference.”
Recent shire reports show there is ongoing concern in the community about enforcement of regulations.
In their recent adopted Domestic Animal Management Plan, one of the most-talked about problems was the lack of shire action on errant owners.
As reported in the Leader in September, on average there is at least one dog attack or ‘dog acting in a menacing manner’ complaint every day.
The shire did not respond to Leader questions about the number of fines issued, or if they would run a canine clampdown campaign.
