I have recently moved back to St. Albert after nine years in another city. I cannot believe that the dog and off-leash issue is still a bone of contention unresolved after all this time. I lived in a city where dogs were welcome. There were numerous off-leash parks available for dogs and their owners to socialize and frolic.

Other parks designated for humans were off-limits and we all respected that law.

I recently drove over to the Lacombe off-leash park and was saddened to see the shrinkage that has occurred in the off-leash area for approximately 8,000 dogs and their owners. Where do citizens who own and love their canine companions go to exercise and socialize?

All responsible dog owners know the limitations of their pet when it comes to preventing run-ins with other park visitors who do not appreciate nor see the need for canine companions.

My wonderful Phantom and Duffy passed away five years and one year ago respectively. As a senior, I loved these creatures for the love, kindness and acceptance they showed. They were well mannered and trained and never had I a problem with them with non-dog people.

If city council insists on spending my tax dollars on this never-ending saga, and making dog owners (responsible, law abiding owners) the social pariah society has deemed smokers, who are also taxpayers, then please attack a bylaw on loose cats.

I have given up on my little flower bed in front of my house for fear of contracting some illness due to my flower bed having been the neighbourhood litter box for some years, long before I moved back here.

The city I moved from had laws for cats also. Licensed cats. All cats — indoor, and those allowed the freedom to run loose and possibly become road kill and sadness for some child or adult owner — were required by law to have a licence.

If they became a nuisance, as in destroying non-cat owners’ flower beds, then bylaw was given the freedom to trap and ticket the cat’s owner. Because it had a licence, it could be traced back to the owner.

I have a possible solution to consider … use licence funds for both dogs and cats to provide a pet park.

The dog owners I have met over the years seemed like pretty decent people. The never-ending war between pet owners could be so easily rectified.

Just give the dogs their own park. That would be licensing fees put to good use.

S. Norton, St. Albert

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