Dangerous dogs

I WAS not surprised at the front page of (September 19’s) Sentinel Times. It is never the dog, always the dog owner and it is a shame that someone has to lose their family pet and life companion because some reckless owner lets her dog off the lead. If your dog does not have recall it should always be on the lead and no excuse is enough. The Council should take more responsibility for the community and make dog owners aware at all times of the regulations. I live in a small court in Inverloch and have reported numerous dog breaches and whilst the Council have attended, it has not deterred owners from doing the wrong thing. A rescue dog has a lot of issues and is unpredictable and owners should not take their dogs for granted.

No one is deserving of owning a dog if you do not feel you have a responsibility not only to other dog owners but the community in general. I see more owners being taken out for a walk by their dog and no training put into their pets. If the Council can readily take the money to register the dog, I am sure they can put something in place to make sure that some dogs, the aggressive breeds that can kill, are put through a training period and the owners should show evidence before getting that dog registered. It is useless fining owners because it does nothing to change their attitude and just puts money into the Council's funds. There should be tougher rules for irresponsible owners. Dogs should be on a lead if it has no recall and if it is not socialised, keep it out of the view of the road and people.

Dogs are precious irrespective of what the breed is, it is the owners that are always behaving badly. Get a grip on your dog and stop terrorising community and my heart goes out to the owner of the Pomeranian, and I am over hearing stories like this and being a victim of a dog attack myself stories like this disappoint me, and I am tired of being the community police for the Council dog laws. The holiday season bring visitors to the region that have no idea about the laws in Bass Coast and agents, accommodation places and family should let those coming to the region know the laws around owning a pet.

Dilene Hinton, Inverloch