Alpha dogs

I should come clean before I begin. I am one of those people who believe dogs should run free.

I understand the difficulty the people at Quinte Conservation have encountered. It’s the problem any organization tasked with managing wilderness trails will eventually run into. People like me, who believe dogs should run free, think they’ve found the perfect spot to hike with Fido— rules be damned.

This poses several problems. Wilderness trails are meant to observe wildlife, not interact with it. Rover is not going to respect that the flora and fauna of a conservation area should not be trampled or eaten. If his owner doesn’t see him defecating, the result may be an unpleasant experience for the next hiker. And if he can’t be controlled around other domestic creatures like dogs or humans, he could pose a security risk to other park users.

And then there’s that problem that haunts the nightmares of every good, old-fashioned administrator. If one rule is not enforced, what’s to keep people from breaking another?

For the first three problems, there are solutions.

In Ottawa, the National Capital Commission chose to fence off some acres of the greenbelt it oversees for use as a dog park. The park is more or less devoid of animals other than dogs, since those creatures have taken up residence in other sections of the greenbelt with less canine odours.

Until last Friday, Quinte Conservation offered a similar, if half-hearted solution: an unfenced path, less than a kilometre long, where dogs could run off-leash—so long as they understood the invisible boundaries and avoided other trails.

There are time restrictions. An area can be offered up to dog owners between certain hours, less popular with other hikers, so anyone who wants to avoid an encounter with a dog can be warned.

In the Netherlands, posts are mounted every kilometre or so where dogs roam free. Those posts offer a small bag dispenser and a bin. It’s an effective way to encourage owners to pick up after their pets. There, forgetting to bring a bag is a poor excuse. The goodwill gesture also makes owners feel happier to make donations toward the maintenance of the dispenser and bin.

For that last problem, the one about breaking rules, there’s enforcement. This is the path Quinte Conservation’s board of directors took when they chose to shut down the Pooch Path in Belleville, warning dog owners if their dogs are caught offleash in any of the 22 conservation areas it manages— seven in the County—they would face a $60 fine.

This authoritarian approach may quell the fears of the conservation administrators, but it shouldn’t. Punishment is rarely an effective solution. Less so the threat of it. The decision was made without engaging the public to find a solution. It may deter some dog owners from walking their dogs offleash— I don’t feel comfortable doing it anymore— but it will also stop dog owners from respecting the conservation authority. And that will be harder to manage.

mihal@mihalzada.com