Editor:
Re: Friendly or not,
dogs should be kept on leash in parks, Community
Comment, April 10
I echo Corry Anderson-Fennell's words regarding off-leash dogs, but for entirely different reasons.
Let me set the stage: a lovely spring day in Diefenbaker Park. I am with my two children and my (at that time) 81-yearold mother. I confess that both my children and my mum were off-leash at the time.
Though my two boys can be quite frisky, my mum tends to be quite docile and friendly. The park was sparsely occupied, so I felt the risk of my family causing injury to others was minimal.
An off-leash dog - a big and friendly fellow - bounds down the pathway and neatly hip-checks my mum into a thorn-bush, narrowly missing a large boulder by inches. Her injuries required only two visits to her physician.
The owners of the dog were kind enough to pony up the dry-cleaning costs to remove the blood stains from her clothing.
Do understand that I am a serial dog owner, but that I also insist that dogs only be allowed to range freely in specific areas. Anderson-Fennell rightly points out there are plenty of dog parks in Delta and I encourage responsible dog owners to use them.
Billy Mitchell
