Reflect on responsible ownership of dogs

IT is somewhat disappointing that your paper has chosen to lead off with a ‘negative’ perspective of dog ownership in Lisburn and is leading readers towards the kind of traps that other councils have gone headlong into of recent in terms of promoting city-life.

Maybe your paper could put forward a balanced approach and reflect on the responsible ownership of dogs.

Based on my twice daily walks of the Lisburn streets and parks, there are many more responsible dog owners out there than irresponsible ones. For sure, a minority of dog walkers need greater education or reminding of the need to pick up after them but maybe going on a fining offensive is not the starting point.

Some of the parts of your feature need researched a little further though to give an overall perspective.

Just as a few examples, there are no bins (for any purpose) on the entire length of either Magheralave Road or Clonevin Park where there are two busy schools. Magheralave Park East and Kirkwoods Rd also are devoid of bins and these are busy thoroughfares. This was pointed out less than a year back to the local councillors but so far no action has been taken by the council.

Some years back the dog warden service at a road show in Wallace Park talked about being underresourced when asked about how they planned to try and warden certain areas better. That was years back so maybe putting up some bins might be a more cost effective option than costly overtime in the mornings and nights as your feature seems to suggest. Bin designs that contain poop bags storage facilities are available so that too might be a more proactive approach rather than hope that people will travel the distance to the Island Centre.

Maybe the talked about early AM and evening service might also focus initially on simply handing out a leaflet and some bags rather than going on a fining offensive. It would be interesting though to hear just how many actual fines have been handed out for littering versus dog fouling and if the results are consistent with the areas commented on in last weeks feature or suggest a targeted approach by the council.

There are more effective ways at cracking a nut rather than hitting it with a big hammer. After all, fining for littering offences have been in force for years yet our streets, parks and local waterways are still a mess.

In closing on a positive point, dog ownership for urban owners for sure brings with it a daily exercise routine and use of council owned facilities in a way that if there were not dog owners using same then they would probably close or fall into disrepair.

Responsible North Lisburn dog owner.