Shoot the Owners, NOT the Dogs!
Reported by Keith Jones at 20:30, Sat 16 May 2009
Sent to Bridgend Council 4 minutes later
I have two dogs. It is my understanding - FROM THE VERY PROMINENT SIGNS THAT ARE POSTED - that dogs are NOT allowed on the beaches in Porthcawl from 1 May to 30 September, annually. I walk my dogs every day and it now being the 16th May I can report that EVERY DAY (16 times) I have seen dogs on the beaches when they supposedly should not have been. What is the point of wasting natural resources on producing signs; disbursing taxpayer pounds to pay for them if, at the end of the day they are to be ignored by dog owners and the authorities do nothing about it? My view would be to punitively fine those who permit their dogs to transgress and use the money to appoint a full time dog-warden. His/her salary (and a sizeable one at that!) would quite easily be self-funded if action were taken against all those dog owners who allow their dogs to transgress. I'm available!
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Updates
Thank you for your e-mail, I apologise for the delay in replying, and I support your concerns. Of the beaches in Porthcawl, only Rest Bay, the 'black' beach and part of Newton are the Council’s responsibility. Trecco, Sandy and Coney Beaches are privately owned. As you point out a local bye-law is in place which does not allow dogs on the beach from 1st May to 30th September and appropriate signs have been posted in prominent locations. However, it is very difficult to enforce the bye law, and it is evident that it is disregarded by a minority of irresponsible dog owners.
The Council has three full time environmental enforcement officers who have responsibility for the enforcement of litter, dog fouling, fly tipping etc. across the whole county borough, and it is therefore difficult to devote sufficient time to enforce the bye laws at the beaches. The lifeguards deployed at the beaches during the summer months do ask dog owners to remove their dogs from the beach wherever possible, but they are only deployed mid morning to early evening. There is very little that can be done outside of these hours but to rely on the responsible attitude of dog owners, but as mentioned previously there is a minority who are irresponsible.
I will request that the Council’s enforcement officers regularly review the beaches and that the lifeguards remind irresponsible dog owners of the bye law.
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