To think dogs should be banned from beaches?

[Bedroomdilemma]

At least during nesting season?
www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/nov/14/study-adds-to-calls-to-ban-dogs-from-beaches-during-nesting-season-birds
Not that I’m anti-dog...I’m researching getting a dog. We go for a lot of walks at the moment (not much else to do😄) and I love looking at the dogs on our local beach but it’s also a nature reserve and I’m beginning to get a morally uncomfortable with it. It’s actually mostly a nature reserve for wintering birds so I’m not sure a ban just during nesting season is sufficient.

Maybe all beaches which have ground nesting birds should do what they do on a section of Chesil beach, which is ban everyone. The birds that nest there lay eggs that look like the pebbles, unsurprisingly, so must be very easy to accidentally step on. Between certain times no one is allowed on a certain area.

@Scottishskifun

We walk the dog at a nature reserve which has some rare birds alongside others that ground nest. The rule is to keep your dog on a lead until you get to the open beach through the dune system. Everyone respects it and it works well once in the beach the dogs get a great run as it's over 2 miles long.

Yes, so a dog poo's 100s of yards away from you? with the best will in the world no one will be picking it up.

Also, your dog is bounding around, out of your close control, many people, esp children, are terrified of dogs.

This is why there are dog bans all over Cornwall.

I love dogs, i don't own one now because i work and do not have the private space i used to have to provide proper exercise for a dog.

We don't do beaches with our long haired dogsc... the Sand is to much to even think about!
But generally, if it is a nature reserve, dogs should at least be on a "sort- ish" lead. Humans and dogs should be banned in areas where birds nest on the ground during nesting season.

Seeing the birds and animals killed by the litter on the beaches and the state humans leave them in, it's us who should be banned, not the dogs

@WitchQueenofDarkness

Seeing the birds and animals killed by the litter on the beaches and the state humans leave them in, it's us who should be banned, not the dogs

Yup!

The nature reserve concern is very valid, and I do also wish there were more dog free beaches generally.

Last time I went for a winter beach walk I couldn't hear the sound of the sea for barking, and there were so many off lead dogs getting into scraps and barking at each other, and jumping up with no owner calling them back. There was also a lot of dog poo, and it as nobody seemed to be carrying plastic bags full of poo it seems even owners who usually pick up might think it's ok to leave on a beach as it'll get washed out to sea...

Like everything its not the owners acting responsibly with well trained dogs with good recall who are the problem, but the fact that, unlike 30 years ago, people seem to think a dog is something everyone has, and people with no intention of properly training and picking up after a dog still feel entitled or almost obliged to own one...

WitchQueenofDarkness perhaps both, as in most cases the dogs are just another commodity humans feel entitled to own.

@SausagePourHomme

I May be in the minority but i hate dogs being on the beach. I hate that in this country people take their dogs to beauty spots to use as a toilet. Even if you pick up after it's still filthy and children will be playing there touching the sand, people picnicking there. It's gross

You are not in the minority. I agree 100% with your comments.

I live on the coast and it is the dog walkers who keep the beach cafes going during the winter months

Yes, so a dog poo's 100s of yards away from you? with the best will in the world no one will be picking it up.
I can’t imagine my dog running 90+ metres away from me. Dogs tend to just run back, forth and all around you. But just speaking from my point of view, even if I had to trudge far, yes I would pick up its poo. It’s part of owning a dog.

There are some people in this world for whom the answer to every problem is to ban something. When you only have a hammer...

@Bluethrough actually 95% of owners pick up their dog mess on the beach and respect this.

It's a massive beach there is loads of space and my dog is never out of control. Its so big that even between dogs there is masses of space.
The users of the beach is about 70% dog walkers (with and without children).

There are also beaches in Cornwall where dogs are allowed year round.

No, dogs shouldnt be banned from beaches. Irresponsible people should be banned from having dogs.

@Bedroomdilemma

I guess the problem isn’t with those who keep their dog on a leash and pick up their poo, it’s with the sizeable percentage who won’t.

Exactly. Many dog owners are responsible but there's an entitled subset who think their dogs' rights trump everyone else's, human, other animals, etc.

It's not the dogs. It's the fact that they have morphed from being a pet to "one of the family" and therefore have to go everywhere their owners do.

Twice I have saw dogs crap on the beach and twice I have had abuse telling the owners to clean it up when they refused to pick it up! Disgusting on so many levels

Instead of banning dogs from areas why don't we regulate the sale of dogs, force everyone to hold a license and do that thing they do in Denmark where they DNA-database poops so that owners can be fined if their dog's shart is discovered un-scooped?

I own a dog. It's a good dog, well-trained, perfect recall, I always scoop his poop. He doesn't chase runners, he comes back as soon as I signal him to, halts when he's instructed and he's pretty much a textbook 'how you want your dog to behave' kind of dog. Why should I be banished from certain places because other people are lazy arseholes? Regulate it and stop the lazy arseholes being so lazy. Punish them, and the fines from the non-scoop-poops can finance the whole system.

I voted YABU, but mostly because I am fed up of the lack of provision for responsible dog owners in this country. I wouldn’t object so much to everyone shrieking about banning dogs from here, there and everywhere if a slave could be provided especially for dogs. Why don’t we have dog parks in this country? If there were dedicated spaces for dogs to be adequately exercised (without being charged extortionately for the privilege) then I wouldn’t object to stricter restrictions on off lead exercise on beaches and in parks.

Bloody hell - space, not slave.

We had a fabulous holiday in Northumberland in September. Nearly empty beaches with just a few dogs with owners.

Seemed surreal coming from a crowded city.

No.
I think people fishing leaving wire for sea life and animals to choke on should though also people who litter the beach with empty bottles,food wrappings and dirty nappys 's .I

@burritofan

Just ban dogs altogether imo. From parks; from the UK.

How about we ban or cull humans? They do far more damage to the environment and to wildlife than dogs do.

And what about cats? How many increasingly rare garden birds are killed by cats every year?

Bloody hell - space, not slave
Lol! No need to provide every dog with a slave. Most of them already have at least one.

Definitely ban dogs if it’s to prevent extinction of the nesting birds. I only skimmed the article though, so apologies if extinction isn’t the issue

Dogs (and people) disturbing shorebirds on beaches in winter is also a problem - the birds need to be allowed to feed and rest undisturbed.

From my experience holidaying in the UK with dogs, it seems that they're more often than not banned from beaches in any event.

I agree that humans are much more of a problem than dogs; at least dog poo will rot down and disappear, unlike the plastic litter which will infest the beach and the oceans for centuries.

@SausagePourHomme

I May be in the minority but i hate dogs being on the beach. I hate that in this country people take their dogs to beauty spots to use as a toilet. Even if you pick up after it's still filthy and children will be playing there touching the sand, people picnicking there. It's gross

Totally agree, it feels like the whole of the outdoors is just a dog's toilet Their shit is everywhere😖