The controversial topic of whether dog walking should continue or be barred from public parks has once again been thrown into the spotlight following a dog attack incident in Delta Park over the weekend.
Anthony Stacey, the victim of the attack, shared a photo of his wounded thigh on Delta Park’s Facebook group, with ‘this is when dogs are off leash’. The man was bitten by a Doberman. The post received immediate attention from group members, with some sympathising and expressing disbelief, and also a few calling for the dog owner to take responsibility.
Stacey, however, issued a follow-up post on his timeline stating that the dog owner was being cooperative and he had opened a case, not because he wanted to slander the owner’s name but to make sure that such an incident does not happen to anyone else in future.
Attempts to get an interview with the victim were unsuccessful at the time of this article going to print, however, Randburg Sun learned through the post that he was on the road to recovery.
Two days after the incident, the publication visited the park to get a feeling about the issue from general park users. Some blatantly blamed dog owners for irresponsible behaviour while others did not see off-leash dogs as a problem.
“Dog owners are the ones to blame because they fail to understand their dog’s personality, especially in public. The dog reacts when it senses a fright from its owner,” said Jason Smith.
He added that his greatest concerns were children’s and cyclists’ safety who, in most cases, are victims of dog attacks. “Around here not all dogs are on a leash. This can get a lot worse because we have kids who play around here and mountain bikers who are always disturbed by off-leash dogs while cycling around,” said Smith, a concerned parent.
Two other parents, Nicky Mowbray and Beth Maitonn who own dogs, criticised owners who bring intimidating dogs to parks and fail to control them. “This problem has to do with the dog’s breed. Owners always say they know their dogs and put them off-leash, meanwhile, they know that their dog is an attacker in its nature,” said Mowbray.
Maitonn stressed that certain breeds have to be on a leash. “If your dog is a Rottweiler or any other high-risk dog, then it has to be on a leash or just don’t bring it,” she said.
A frequent Delta Park visitor, Mogae Mogoeng, who was enjoying fresh air, said at first he was uptight with dogs roaming around but realised that some dogs were harmless and friendly
The park has surrounding boards warning people about dos and don’ts in the park. The board indicates only dogs on leashes are allowed in the park.
Despite the concern of off-leash dogs causing threats, the park has been recently marred with all sorts of attack-related incidents where an attempted rape took place in the park and vagrancy has become an issue to park goers.
Ward 117 councillor Tim Truluck said self-policing is vital at this point due to a lack of resources from relevant entities. “Both City Parks and Metro police do not have enough resources to patrol the parks. So there is no way that the dogs on a leash bylaw can be enforced. So it comes down to self-policing like we do in Verity Park, Parkhurst,” Truluck explained.
