FOR years Parkhill residents have been fearing for the lives of their beloved pets. Their fear, they say, has been provoked by a fellow resident who has refused to keep her dogs on leashes during her daily runs. Several of the residents met with the Northglen News last week.
Years of frustration reached boiling point following the recent death of yet another pet, which according to a resident was killed by the dogs owned by the runner. Lyn Alborough, who lives on Conyngham Avenue, claimed that the woman’s dogs had now killed four of her cats. “It has been heart-wrenching. My cats are like my babies. We have approached her about the issue on multiple occasions, and every time she promises that she will keep her dogs on the leads, but she never keeps her word. It is pure negligence on her part,” said Alborough.
Paul Khan, of the Clarendon Road Neighbourhood Watch, confirmed that the resident had received two warnings and a R200 fine from the Animal Control Unit, but continues to ‘break the law’. “We initially approached the resident in 2013 with a letter outlining our concerns, but it has never had any impact,” he said.
Denise Masson, a Clarendon Road resident, said the resident’s dogs had also mauled two of her cats. “She almost seems to enjoy the animosity, and there is no way that she is not aware of her dogs’ actions as I could hear my cat screaming from inside my home when he was attacked and killed. By the time I managed to get outside I spotted her walking with her dogs down the road,” she said.
According to the cat owners, the resident runs (every morning) from 5.30am to 6.30am with her boerboel and staffie, and has been spotted running along Clarendon Road, Eastview Road, Blackburn Road, Conyngham Avenue and uMhlanga Rocks Drive.
A third resident, who did not want to be named, said that the dog owner had used the excuse that she had been mugged and takes her dogs along for protection. “This is utter nonsense, as her dogs often run 10 metres ahead of her. It would make better sense to keep them close if she needed them for protection,” she said.
The residents say they are now at their wits’ end. The group also expressed concern for motorists, as they fear the dogs may cause an accident. “These dogs have been seen chasing cars and running loose in the road – what if a car had to swerve to miss hitting one of the dogs? Or what if the dogs attacked a child? What chance does a small child have against a boerboel?” asked Alborough.
When asked for comment, the dog owner confirmed that she had paid the fine and said she no longer runs within the neighbourhood. “Since the complaints I have been loading my dogs into my car and have driven them to the Virginia Bush, where we run the trail,” she said.
Local ward councillor, Shaun Ryley, confirmed that the resident was not only in contravention of the city’s by-laws by walking her dogs without leads in the residential areas, but is also infringing on a regulation of the Natural Resource Department by walking her dogs in Virginia Bush.
“It is an environmentally sensitive area with indigenous fauna and flora. Dogs are not allowed in the area at all – regardless of whether they are on leads,” he said.
The city’s by-laws state, unequivocally, “The owner of any dog which is found in any street or public place otherwise than on a leash held by a person or under some other form of bodily restraint shall be guilty of an offence.”
