Rovers could be free to roam as council unleashes canine plans

SYDNEY'S parks are going to the dogs. The City of Sydney is considering allowing the furry, four-legged creatures to run around unleashed in 50 of its parks and reserves at any time of the day.
The proposal has delighted inner-city dog owners who want to be able to exercise their pets close to their homes. But others are upset about the potential for increased numbers of dogs rummaging through private picnics, leaving faeces on public grounds and attacking people.
Canines can presently play freely in only 21 of the city's 350 parks, with dog owners forced to schedule their pets' exercise times before 8am or after 6pm in all but two of these areas.
The proposed changes would extinguish the time restrictions and add a further 29 areas, including Cook and Phillip Park, Rushcutters Bay Park and the parklands along the Glebe foreshore, to the list of places where dogs can roam without a leash.
However, children's playgrounds and food preparation zones, such as barbecues, would remain off-limits to dogs. Restricted breeds, such as American pit bull terriers and Brazilian fighting dogs, would have to be leashed and muzzled in public places.
The Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore, said extra off-leash areas would have numerous benefits, including a decrease in uncontrolled barking.
"Additional off-leash areas for exercising and socialising dogs are particularly important in the city where people tend to live in apartments and terrace houses with limited private open space."
More than 15,000 dogs and cats are registered within the City of Sydney region. Twenty dog attacks were reported in the last financial year. The Department of Local Government says about 70 per cent of attacks occur in public areas, but only 6 per cent of these happen in parks.
The council has received more than 250 submissions about the proposal, which is open for public comment until February 1. The split between those in favour and those against it was about 50-50, a council spokesman said.
A Redfern resident, Gina Fairley, said the council was giving preference to dogs over people. "Our public parks are shared zones. The concern is that they no longer become really a shared zone. The priority is given to an animal over pedestrians, the elderly, the disabled and children."
She said she recently attended a picnic at Rushcutters Bay where a dog snatched food out of her friend's child's mouth.
"This young four-year-old was quite traumatised and the owner of the dog accused us of giving [the dog] a chicken bone which could catch in the dog's throat."
People walking dogs in Glebe yesterday were largely supportive of the council's plan. "Most of the dogs around here are pretty well-trained … so there will be no problem there," said Justin Demovic, who takes his dog, Mia, for a walk once or twice a day. "She hates being on the lead."

ANIMALS MUSTN'T BE LEFT DUMPED

Cheltenham Animal Shelter is furious pet owners are treating animals like objects after record numbers were dumped at its doors last year.More than 1,000 dogs and cats were left in 2007 and it has 65 unwanted pets at the moment.Manager Tony Bell fears the number will increase as people get rid of unwanted Christmas presents.From January to November 2007, 752 dogs and 217 cats were left at the shelter. This is up from 649 and 116 in 2006. The number of dogs dumped has now risen to 820 and as space runs out Tony said the shelter will have to make tough decisions about putting animals down.

He said: "You get a lot of old pets dumped before Christmas as people plan to get new animals, and then after Christmas when people get animals they don't want."The next peak is when people go back to school and work and realise how much work is involved in looking after a pet. Then, in April andMay, when the animals reach adolescence and become more of a handful we receive a lot."People treat animals as disposable. Like a toaster or ironing board, when it's no longer what they want they throw it away and buy a new one."Tony said people are open about their reasons for dumping their pets, and rarely have a good excuse."One person said they had their house redecorated and the dog no longer matched, I couldn't believe it. As animal lovers we just can't understand this selfish, heartless mentality," he said"It's got to the point we sometimes refuse to take the animals and make the owner take responsibility."People need to seriously consider years of care and vets' bills."Once an animal's more than three years old it's hard to rehome, and after six, almost impossible."Cheltenham Animal Shelter is a charity. Its annual running cost is £500,000.n Anyone wanting to take on a pet that needs rehousing should call the centre on 01242 523521.

Have dog, will travel (but safely)

Debbie Lustig suggests ways to prevent a driving holiday from going to the dogs.
During the holiday season, dogs will journey to the furthest corners of the country on trips with their human owners and it's up to us to ensure they travel and arrive safely.
Restraint
There are no laws about restraining dogs in cars in Victoria, although they must be tethered when in utes and trailers.
Vet Shaun Wynne from the Whitehorse Veterinary Hospital recalls a man and woman who had been in an accident several years ago: "They had glass injuries on the forearms and head, and brought their dog in before they took themselves to hospital. The dog sustained a back injury. It hadn't been restrained."
And Kim, a vet nurse from Mount Waverley Animal Emergency Centre, says: "We see dogs jumping out the window that's wound down too far, getting injured by jumping from a moving car. It happens every couple of months, depending on the season."
Dr Wynne thinks the safety message is getting through. "One of the things we're finding is that there is generally less trauma to dogs because people are looking after them better," he says. "We sell a lot of harnesses."
Harnesses are also available at pet shops and vet clinics.
Dehydration and heat stress
These are serious problems for dogs, which are less effective at controlling their body temperature than us. A dog pants to cool down, but if it doesn't drink enough water, it will begin to dehydrate.
Dogs can also become heat stressed, which is simply high body temperature. Generally dehydration comes with it, but it doesn't have to.
If left in a hot car, a dog can suffer heat stress in as little as 15 minutes.
"Your dog can be dead by the time you find it if it's there for long enough," a vet warns. That's regardless of the dog's size. "It's all about ambient temperature, so if it's 40 outside, it's 60 in the car."
Affected dogs pant quickly and are lethargic. If heat-stressed, they need to be seen by a vet immediately. Breeds with pushed-in snouts (boxers, pugs, bulldogs, etc) are at higher risk of heat stress.
Provide your dog with plenty of water, especially during summer - they should drink 60-100 millilitres of water per kilogram of their bodyweight per day.
Lightweight canvas bowls are ideal for travelling dogs, and there's an ingenious bottle available that inverts into a pan and, when squeezed, decants water.