Camden New Journal - News: Victory for dog - owners as proposals are scaled back

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Camden New Journal - by PAUL KEILTHY
Published: 26 April 2007

Should dogs be kept on leads in parks?

Victory for dog-owners as proposals are scaled back

Tory councillor expects reversal of strict measures after consultation process

DOG-LOVERS have persuaded the council’s environment chief that plans to fine people for walking their pets off the lead in parks should be scrapped, the New Journal can reveal.
Tory Cllr Mike Greene, whose environment department initially proposed control orders which would see dog-owners fined up to £1,000 for a range of offences, said yesterday he would listen to the massive response to the council’s consultation on the issue and act to scrap the most unpopular elements.
Figures seen by the New Journal – which first revealed the proposed restrictions on dogs in open spaces and sparked several weeks of debate – show that while residents were split over whether dogs should be allowed off the lead in housing estates and the number of dogs that should be walked at a time, they were overwhelmingly in favour of allowing dogs to run free in parks.
Cllr Greene said the original proposals for hardline restrictions for these offences and for failing to pick up dog faeces would be replaced by a softer regime in which officers would use discretion and warnings – and that the requirement for dogs to be kept on leads in parks would be scrapped.
He said: “It has been difficult for me to make sure that I don’t compromise the consultation with my personal view that dogs should be allowed off the leads. The decision officially still has to be made but I would be extremely surprised and disappointed if other members do not listen to my view that this measure should be dropped.”
Residents forced the council to extend its consultation on dog control orders by a month after the New Journal revealed the dog control order plans in February.
Cllr Greene has acknowledged that the original terms of the consultation “failed to tell people that they were being offered genuine alternatives”. He said: “It was never meant to be an anti-dog proposal – but it would not have been fair to the many people who have concerns about dogs not to have offered these options. You have to accept that there are some problems with dogs in Camden and they will need to be addressed.”
Des Quilty, who collected 750 signatures for his petition protesting the ban, said: “There have been problems with certain owners being irresponsible, but they should be dealt with on a one-to-one basis, just as you deal with humans who are anti-social.
“Hopefully this will mean that man and dog will be able to roam free as they should.”

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