26th March 2015 - 10:00 AM
Coventry City Council has recently been in the local media due to their proposed Public Space Protection Orders which would have seen dog walker access restricted across the city, with dogs having to be kept on leads in all fields and parks in Coventry.
Given the unreasonable nature of Public Space Protection Orders
proposed by Coventry City Council a local action group, Dogs in
Coventry, was quickly formed to oppose the orders. Almost 5,000
people signed a petition asking the council to readdress the issue
and through constructive debate with the council and local dog
owners contacting other campaign groups, such as KC Dog, the Dogs
in Coventry group successfully encouraged the council to revisit
their proposals and have secured fairer access for dogs and their
owners in Coventry. As a result, dogs will now continue to be
allowed to be exercised off lead in the majority of green
areas. Some restrictions are being applied, such as dogs on
leads in formal gardens and as many green areas as they have been,
except on sports grounds when games are being played. The
Dogs in Coventry group is continuing to engage with the Council and
various other local organisations, such as Friends of Parks groups
in order to achieve a sensible and proportionate set of controls
around the city.
Read more at
www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/campaigners-force-controversial-dog-control-8393805.
KC Dog would encourage our Coventry-based members to join the Dogs in Coventry group to stay updated as, despite their success, the group remains concerned that the current PSPOs, whilst seemingly reasonable, have still not been fully defined, are poorly drafted and may have unintended consequences and ambiguities. To join, please visit http://dogsincoventry.org.uk/.