Only playing..?

The last day of February was a lovely day to walk by the sea, but on the greensward at the end of Pigeonhouse Lane in Rustington, a lady dog owner decided my friends and I had no business being there because we objected to her lack of proper control over her dogs!

She was with another lady and their two golden retriever dogs were playing on the grass and decided not once, not twice but three times to run between, brush against and jump up against the two friends I was talking to and myself.

The owners did nothing to control their dogs or even make an effort to apologise for their behaviour, which was obviously causing annoyance.

If one of us had been a child or someone who had a disability, some injury could have resulted.

I shouted “down” to the dogs and turned to their owner and suggested that if their dogs could not be controlled they should be on a lead.

The reply from one lady owner was that the dogs were “only playing”! She added, and this is the best bit, that people using the public footpath along the greensward should accept that dogs would be present, could behave in such a way and must be prepared for it, otherwise they should walk elsewhere.

I had not appreciated that any greensward public footpath was designated a dog zone to which people entered at their own risk! Perhaps dog owners, like the lady I spoke to, should get the local council to place warning notices!

Taking this argument a step further, if dog priority zones are to be set up, perhaps we could have people priority zones, where all dogs must be kept on a lead or even banned!

No, I don’t support dog zones or dog-free zones – what would the world come to and what would be next? Child-free zones, perhaps, or zones only for sun-worshippers or even meditating, mantra-chanting hippies?

What I do favour is the responsible supervision of dogs by owners, which involves keeping dogs firmly under control and respecting the rights of others to enjoy our public footpaths and greenswards without being annoyed by dogs.

The large majority of dog owners I know do just this, but, sadly, there are a few who think differently and probably such people would be better off not keeping a dog.

I never blame dogs for their natural behaviour; it is irresponsible dog owners who have a case to answer!

And in case, any reader wonders, I like dogs very much!

Richard J. Richards

Golden Avenue

East Preston