Lately we have been having a large number of dogs wandering through our property.<\/p>\n
We live at the end of a quiet street on five acres. At least a couple of times a week we have noticed random, large dogs running through or crossing our property. It has become a weird highway of strange canines.<\/p>\n
Some are repeat offenders, and some I have never seen before. My immediate neighbours on either side of me have dogs and I have never had them come onto our property, so I am not sure where these other dogs are coming from, or where they are going.<\/p>\n
It is getting very annoying. We had one dig up our garden and make a mess the other day. I can’t let my chickens free-range anymore, and I have to scan my yard before letting out my little dog.<\/p>\n
I suddenly feel the need to keep my children close to the house and don’t feel comfortable letting them explore or venture past where I can see them from my kitchen window. The problem is that I don’t know these dogs. I have no idea if they are friendly or not. We’ve already had an incident a couple years ago when a stray dog came onto our property and killed our little dog. So my fears are well-founded.<\/p>\n
I fully understand that every once in a while a dog may stray. I know dogs can get caught up in chasing a deer or the smell of another dog in heat may cause them to waltz through the neighbourhood. But the number of dogs that are constantly wandering around is alarming. And it isn’t safe.<\/p>\n
A couple of weeks ago, there was a vehicle collision on Old Babine Lake Road. The official police report said one driver slammed on their brakes to avoid an animal. I’ve had two witnesses tell me that animal was a dog.<\/p>\n
The two drivers were injured, but it could have been much worse. There is often a dog walking down that strip of road. I have had to slow down for it. It is one thing if your dog runs away once or twice, but when your pooch is a perpetual prowler, you need to do something. Not only for the safety of the dog, but for the safety of the neighbourhood.<\/p>\n
We have already determined there are no animal control bylaws within the Regional District of Bulkley Nechako. After my first little dog was killed by another dog, there was nothing anyone could do.<\/p>\n
There were no laws to uphold. There was no one to protect us. We were told that neighbours must simply deal with each other in rural neighbourhoods. I don’t know where these dogs belong or who to ‘deal’ with.<\/p>\n
So what am I supposed to do with the dogs running wild through my yard? Do people know their dogs take themselves for a walk when they are gone? Or do they even care?<\/p>\n
We need more dog owners to be responsible. We need more animal control bylaws. Leaving it up to people to take care of it themselves can only lead to disaster. I’m all for talking to my neighbours and working things out, but it makes it difficult when you don’t know who to talk to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Marisca, once again, calls on the regional district to create animal control bylaws<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":130,"featured_media":133449,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,21,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-133444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columnists","category-community","category-opinion"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n