Editor: I often walk the trails in the periphery of Canmore and I estimate that 80 per cent of the dog owners do not have their pooch on a leash.
I gave up suggesting that they should obey the law and the reasons for doing so, because I got very aggressive responses and/or remarks such as: “My dog never chases wildlife” or “my dog is old and it can not run fast anymore” or “ I have been living in this town for X number of years and I never had my dogs on a leash and I am not gonna change my ways because of you, ass----.”
Now, all of the above is a well-known fact (and many concerned citizens have complained about it for many years) but I and many others ask themselves why that is.
My conclusion: Lacking bylaw enforcement, the few fines given obviously do not act as a deterrent because they are too small; a lack of willingness for the Town to enforce bylaws in general; lack of comprehension of why one should have a dog on a leash and/or lacking appreciation and respect for wildlife.
Great effort is being put into programs like Wildsmart in trying to educate people in wildlife conflict avoidance, with good success, however, one tends to preach mostly to already converted souls.
The prevailing attitude of many dog owners is that they have a God-given right to let their pooch run and poop wherever they please without any consideration for the welfare of our wildlife, other (rare) leashed dogs, or other pedestrians having to deal with a dog enthusiastically jumping at them.
Furthermore, ungulates may regard larger dogs as a wolf, their arch enemy, and stampede, potentially causing a traffic accident – as happened before on our highway. Throughout winter ungulates lose weight and their fat reserves (even with optimal feed) and if there is a cold and snowy spring, many may die because they may run out of energy – their oven goes out so to speak.
So animals like deer, elk, moose or sheep try to conserve their fat reserves in winter by moving as little and as efficiently as possible.
Now, when a dog chases (or just spooks) those ungulates, it causes them to lose extra energy – energy they need to survive a harsh winter. This winter is especially hard on our cloven hoofed ones because of the more than usual snow cover in the valley bottom, the crusty snow conditions (making scraping for forage much harder), the occasional wolf pack patrolling through the area and a high resident cougar population.
Dog owners, please do consider the basic needs and welfare of our wildlife. Dog owners, please be good mentors to your kids on how to behave responsibly around wildlife and towards other trail users. I am certain many wildlife and nature lovers in this valley would be very appreciative for that.
Gian-Duri Giger,
Canmore
