Editor:
I am strongly opposed to the current 100 per cent restriction on dog owners walking on our boardwalk with their companions.
As a taxpayer who pays far more property tax than if I lived anywhere else, I demand better access to the amenities I have paid for.
Other than the basics – police/fire, sewer, general city governance – there is no other city service I partake in other than our waterfront.
With the bylaw as is, I’m definitely not getting my money’s worth from my hard-earned tax dollars.
I am a responsible dog owner and always take a bag with me. The vast majority of dog owners do so as well.
I walk my dog along Marine Drive between Habgood and Finlay twice a day, and I would venture to say at least 30 others do so as well. It is a rare occurrence that I witness dog waste left behind – less than once a month.
Countless owners walk their dogs by my house every day, and I would say not more than three or four times in the past year have I found dog waste in my yard.
Now, if I walk along the boardwalk on a busy weekend, I can see garbage all over the place. The “one bad apple” excuse for this overly restrictive bylaw is a red herring.
I am willing to do what those against dog owners are not – compromise. I do not suggest we throw open the whole boardwalk. What I propose is this: The boardwalk east of the pier shall be open to dogs on leashes; the boardwalk west of the pier shall remain closed to dogs. Leashes shall be no longer than four feet.
The city shall install “doggie-doo” baggie dispensers at appropriate distances along the boardwalk – I suggest on every second or third lamppost – to make it easy for people to comply.
Dog owners are allowed to walk with their companions on the West Vancouver waterfront and along the length of the seawall in Vancouver. It is unacceptable that they are not here.
To say we have closed the boardwalk to dog owners because an occasional owner is irresponsible is akin to saying we are closing Marine Drive to car traffic because an occasional person speeds.
Dog owners/taxpayers in White Rock deserve and demand better than they have received.
The knee-jerk reaction that caused this repressive bylaw in the first place can be corrected acceptably to most with my compromise solution.
Michael Klaver, White Rock
