Heard the one about Racist Dogs in Wales

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1975825/labour-told-ban-dogs-wales-racism

The report, put together by Climate Cymru BAME, suggested setting up “dog-free areas in local green spaces” as a way to help achieve these goals.
The proposal is part of a broader set of recommendations but does not clarify how dog-free zones would help address racism.

....
In addition to Climate Cymru BAME, the North Wales Africa Society also called for dog-free areas, claiming that some ethnic minority residents feel uneasy around dogs.
During focus group sessions, one Black African woman reportedly expressed feeling unsafe in areas with dogs.

...
The report also identified other barriers to enjoying outdoor spaces, such as the lack of public transport to rural areas, poor air quality in cities, and perceptions that gardening and allotment spaces are dominated by “middle-aged white women.”
Other comments from ethnic minority participants included feeling apprehensive about visiting the countryside due to their racial or religious identity.

I'm all for improving public transport to rural locations in Wales - it is an issue we've had living in Wales and I'm all for looking at anything that makes anyone feel unwelcome in countryside as well - and very in favour of improving air quality in cities especially welsh city I live in.

Not sure though that the local allotments are dominated by white middle class women - seems to be more retried men here.

While I'm not against dog restricted areas but really would like an explanation on how they'll help and how that would be monitored for effectiveness before making it harder for a section of population to enjoy green spaces and countryside.

It's because of their dreadful Christmas advert.

My dog is Welsh and can be a bit breedist. She is not a fan of a chihuahua.

Exactly!

They should probably be very careful about which places they make dog-free too. Our local beach was made dog-free and the decision was very quickly reversed when the local businesses started losing money (dog walkers are there in all weathers), and so many of the locals complained!

where do I directly say anything about this scheme being in connection to Muslims?

My example of not eating bacon sarnies in Dubai relates to the point that individuals should respect and accept the cultural norms of a country.

Ah, so angry racist tiktokers wil now be boycotting both boots and Wales, I’m sure Welsh people are extremely upset that there will be fewer racists at tourist attractions.

Quite. That is exactly my point.

Dog free zones = good
Relating it to race = not good

Dog free areas sound like a very good idea, but I don't see what race has to do with it.

Yes, the best-behaved dogs in my neighbourhood are the staffies. Lovely dogs.

It's cane corsos and those Belgian shepherds you have to be wary of around here. Oh, and the very many savage middle-class sausage dogs that always seem to be spoiling for a fight!

Read the fucking article- it has nothing to do with Muslims having an issue with dogs or how well you do respecting other cultures.

I live in Wales and I'm Welsh..... beware the pork industry. Bloody ridiculous.

Staffy's are very middle-class dogs these days.

The gammonati have moved on to bigger status dogs.

FFS - stop falling for race baiting DM headlines 🙄

The article is about a couple of reports that has been produced by two different Welsh BAME group about the barriers that ethnic minorities face in accessing the outdoors - in the main it talks about how there is poor public transport from town's and cities to non-urban areas, how green spaces in urban areas are not respected (dog fouling / rubbish etc) and that this is more pronounced in areas where there are more minorities. One of the suggested solutions to this is having some dog free spaces within urban green areas - I guess like most parks where there is children's play equipment.

The reports included feedback from people from different ethnic backgrounds who felt uncomfortable in rural areas due to a lack of understanding of their culture and religion as well.

The DM and Welsh Tories have hooked onto one quote from one black woman who said that dogs made her uncomfortable which was on of her personal barriers to accessing green spaces and used it to try and make the Welsh government sound like they are saying dogs are racist🙄

Of course it doesn't & for someone to even suggest that is ridiculous. I have a dog and my eldest does not like any dogs but he is the exception. She will come with me to take him out & gets anxiety seeing other dogs. It makes no sense whatsoever & she says that herself. She absolutely adores our dog but will not go near another dog. She has never had a negative experience either. She would welcome a dog free zone but in my opinion all dogs should be on leads in open spaces. It would be great if there were parks for dogs however i cant let my dog off the lead as he has no patience for other dogs & i hate it when other dog owners think it is acceptable to allow their dog who is off the lead to run up to my dog. My dog isn't friendly but somehow they dont seem to understand that until he gets cross. If people kept their dogs on leads and respected other park users we would not need to be talking about creating separate spaces.

I'm sorry, WHAT?

I don't see anything wrong with dog-free zones. Providing these zones don't make it impossible to walk a dog to and from public destinations, and don't complete exclude exercising pets in public parks.

Until we lost our dog recently, I had noticed when walking her that some people from some cultural backgrounds could be very fearful of dogs in public spaces. I didn't do a count or determine whether it was statistically significant, but anecdotally it did seem to be more prevalent with women and children of muslim or African heritage.

But there are enough frequent complainers about dogs on MN as a whole that the concept will likely prove popular.

Wrong to pigeon-hole it under reducing racism though (that shouts of desperation that they're out of ideas for that initiative), it's should be filed under improving inclusivity of access to the public realm. There are lots of white people that dislike dogs too.

And I get dirty looks and head shakes because I present as Middle Eastern to many in Dubai.

Well yes, so why didn't they just set up some dog-free zones instead of making it about race? It's just going to inflame the types who are most likely to be racist anyway, no?

It's not because the dog is racist but dogs are they perceptive to small differences for example we had one dog that hated people wearing hoods fine with them wearing hats.

We had one who was (off topic!) fine with loose horses. Fine with horses ridden by people in riding hats. Absolutely NOT fine with a horse ridden by a child in a jester's hat, and not happy with someone riding one horse with another on a leading rein.

She also used to freak at anyone with a child in a backpack, though apparently front slings were fine.

I have a friend who wears shorts in Dubai.

Usually the more dangerous dogs are owned by your EDL types so to a black female, seeing a fat skinhead with EDL tattoo and Staffy can't be very pleasant

Dog-free zones sound like a great idea.

Especially for those people of any race/religion/nationality/hight/weight/hair colour/taste in music, etc. who dislike being around dogs. For whatever reason.