I once saw a dog “attack” (my term) or “begin playing with” (the dog owner’s term) a girl who was swimming.

By the time we had brought her ashore and sent her to hospital there was hardly an inch of her not covered in blood and claw marks. She looked as though she had been flayed in some medieval torture.
 
The image is so vivid I will not swim anywhere near any of the dozens of illegal dogs polluting Auckland beaches. The dog owner was unconcerned that a child had been scarred for life but distraught that his dog might be put down.
 
The revision of the dog bylaw presents an opportunity to ban all dogs at all times from all of Auckland’s beaches.
 
I was mauled by two dogs on an Auckland street but escaped into a neighbour's house with only puncture wounds. In water I would not have had a chance.
 
Community wellbeing, as demanded by the Local Government Act, should begin with letting dogs on parks and streets but setting aside beaches as safe places for people.


Tony Watkins
Karaka Bay

Published in the East and Bays Courier 7 May 2008