I moved to Qualicum Beach three years ago — after much research I decided it was the place.
Noted on various websites as being a friendly town, Qualicum Beach was nickednamed “tidy town” and boasted about having one of the best dog parks on the Island.
Qualicum Beach has definitely lived up to its reputation as “tidy town” which I love. However, the off-leash dog park at Ravensong is not what it set out to be.
At first my walks at the dog parks were wonderful — beautiful surroundings and my dogs could run free, chase squirrels, etc. It was a happy place. Then the joggers moved in. Every time we go there we have confrontations with joggers. I have tried and explain to them that they are in a off-leash dog park. I was appalled at the ignorance and arrogance of these joggers.
On my last attempt in having an enjoyable walk with my dogs and a friend, we were verbally attacked by a couple saying we needed to leash up our dogs as they were jogging there. The man was proud in stating he had been living in Qualicum Beach for 20 years and has jogged there during this entire time. Do years of residence give you the right to jog wherever you want? He went on to tell us that we should go somewhere else to walk our dogs. What, not at the dog park? I told him I didn’t think so.
Over the last couple of months, altercations between dog walkers and joggers have escalated and it is only a matter of time before something happens.
In reading The NEWS, I note how some people complain about dogs on the beaches and now we can’t take our dogs (off-leash) to the beach in the off-season and how one dogfight in 10 years at the farmers’ market resulted in banning dogs.
So here we are, the one place we are supposed to be allowed to walk our dogs “off leash” and we have the joggers trying to take over the park.
I have never heard of a dog park allowing joggers and think the Town of Qualicum Beach needs to refocus its efforts in banning joggers from the off-leash dog park.
Sandi KrenbrinkQualicum Beach
