Bridgetown dog owner fed up with walks made anxious by irresponsible pet owners

The Blackwood River Walk is a popular walking trail for Bridgetown residents and visitors, but in an instant their experience can be spoiled or filled with anxiety when a dog off the lead approaches them, according to a local dog owner. Bridgetown’s Corinne Rule told the Times she recently had a bad encounter while walking her Cavoodle, Cara on a lead and noticed a dog off-lead approaching her with the owner close by. Knowing not all dogs are friendly towards others, Ms Rule said she prepared herself as the dog came toward her and Cara. Feeling threatened, she told the man his dog needed to be on a lead as a matter of safety, and as signs littered around the area say. “He goes, ‘my dog is okay. My dog is friendly’,” Ms Rule said. “I have had somebody say that to me before, and their dog has gone and attacked my dog. He said ‘I should be able to have my dog off leash’. He just didn’t care. He just argued.” Ms Rule said he refused to put a leash on his dog and told the Times he responded with a racial comment about her British accent, telling her she was “part of the problem in Bridgetown”. She said her own dog is also “friendly” but remains on-lead while keeping a safe distance from people for everyone’s comfort. “My dog loves people and if she jumped up onto a little kid, she would knock that kid over,” Ms Rule said. “There’s a lot of elderly people down here as well. If they get knocked over, they don’t want to go for a walk because they’re too scared. “Everybody’s got to be responsible, even if dogs are on a lead. It’s not OK to say your dog is friendly, and it’s not OK to have a dog off-leash in an area that states dogs are to be on a lead.” Ms Rule said situations like this cause anxiety and “spoil” her morning walks, so she reported the incident to the shire, raising her concerns. Speaking with Shire of Bridgetown-Greenbushes president Jenny Mountford last Thursday, Ms Rule suggested more clear signage was needed. The discussion involved the shire’s plans to have a fenced-off dog park and the limitations around the ranger conducting more spot checks. Cr Mountford told the Times suggestions would be made to the chief executive and council, with more awareness of dog zones shared via a Facebook campaign. “The last count I heard was that we had something like 1000 dogs licensed in the shire, which is a high number, and there’s probably a considerable number more who aren’t licensed. We have a lot of dogs. We’re very much a dog lovers town,” she said. “(However), not everyone heeds signs.” Cr Mountford said it was up to owners to be more responsible, and up to others to report bad behaviour. While there are off-lead areas within the shire Cr Mountford said owners still needed to be in control. “You can’t just sit down and let them run amok kind of thing,” she said. “A dog might be perfectly well behaved off-lead with its owner, but when there are distractions of other dogs or unknown people you don’t always know what the reaction is going to be. “It’s for everyone’s enjoyment of those spaces. “We’ve been trying to work on getting an attractive enclosed dog park in Bridgetown for quite some time. “I think a proper, enclosed area that people want to go to would steer people away from places like the River Walk, wanting to be off-lead there. “