Reading the article Changes to dog control services, March 20 Penticton Western News, I am appalled that man’s best friend is subjected to such treatment.
I moved to the area after retiring now I am finding the restrictions are more barbaric than they are on the lower mainland.
I live in the small community of Keremeos which I thought was just the place to settled only to find that walking my dog off-leash can only be done down on an area of rock, boulders, grit and with a minimum of sand. Now I find that camping for the pickers takes over the only area by the river (rock, boulders etc., etc.) so I can’t take my dog for a decent walk anymore. The off-leash park (so called) is nothing but a fenced-in barren waste, with not one tree, two yellow so-called fire hydrants and a block of cement. A picnic table and bench not one bit of shade.
I need my dog, although it’s not a service dog but it has kept me alive over the years and now my hearing has become impaired I rely on this very special dog to let me know when someone comes into the garden. The cost of a licence is going up and we haven’t got a decent place to walk or play except our own small garden. Are you going to give places like Keremeos a proper dog off-leash park or just grab more money from the dog lovers/owners? I understand only too well what it’s like to be a senior and have another dog come up to my own in a menacing manner, it happens in the so called off-leash areas and guess what the most aggressive dogs are the small ones (that was also the case in Vancouver).
I have to drive out of Keremeos way up into the mountains for a decent trail to walk my dog. That takes quite a bit of my pension in gas every month which perhaps tells you that a lot of dog owners must be doing the same as I (because we love and respect our four-footed companions and friends). I always thought that small communities were friendly towards people and their pets, but after being here for just six months sad to say that is not the case.
Sheila Moss
Keremeos
