It has been proven time and again that ignorance is the new common sense.

Pathways are on-leash areas already, what is proposed to change is which fields are going to be dog friendly. So now more tax dollars have to be poured into segregating which fields are which. As it is now, there are none that are dog only. They are all multi-use. How about spending a fraction of that on a dog awareness pamphlet?

Dogs playing in a field are not going to hurt anyone unless provoked (yelling/looming/taunting) or put into a corner.

Some dogs will chase bikes, runners, and yes, children playing. In this situation face the dog, stand up straight and extend your hand to the dog. They just need a sniff, sniff and will run away back to play. The reason people get attacked by chasing dogs is they try to outrun the dog or yell at it.

It may take 30 seconds out of your run to interact with a loose dog but thousands of years ago we as a civilization decided to remove them from the wild and bring them into our communities. There are cities all over this earth where dogs roam free during the day and return home at night to be with their families. Dogs that are free-roaming have no reason to bite. It really is the leash and confinement that is the problem. This is their natural habitat and those who don't like it should maybe go live on an acreage.

And if a dog is allowed to be off leash in a field then it has been deemed safe and trustable. It's not going to attack a leashed dog. The reason the situation may seem that way is with one leashed and one unleashed is because of the person tensing up and tugging on the leash.

If you relax or let your dog go they will either play or sniff, decide who's dominant and walk in separate directions. Without the outlet to run a few times a day, dogs will become very sour and unhealthy, just like people who don't exercise.

I bought a house in St. Albert for its dog friendliness and wide-open spaces. Now with the destruction of the beautiful wetland and meadow beside Lacombe Lake Park, and this policy change, I will be moving.

Nicholas Lightle, St. Albert

Comments

NOTE: To post a comment in the new commenting system you must have an account with at least one of the following services: Disqus, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, OpenID. You may then login using your account credentials for that service. If you do not already have an account you may register a new profile with Disqus by first clicking the "Post as" button and then the link: "Don't have one? Register a new profile".

The St. Albert Gazette welcomes your opinions and comments. We do not allow personal attacks, offensive language or unsubstantiated allegations. We reserve the right to delete comments deemed inappropriate. We reserve the right to close the comments thread for stories that are deemed especially sensitive. For further information, please contact the editor or publisher.