Hereford Dog Owners

Herefordshire Council is proposing new changes to the control of dogs within the Councils open spaces.
Order 1: Removal of Dog Faeces
This proposed order will require all persons in control of a dog to remove the faeces. This applies to land open to the air where public have access across the whole of the county
Order 2: The Keeping of Dogs on Leads
This proposed order will require people in charge of a dog to keep it on a lead within all designated community and garden areas and all Herefordshire Council owned cemeteries within the administrative area of Herefordshire Council.
Order 3: Dogs on Leads by Direction
This proposed order will require all persons in control of a dog to put and keep the dog on a lead when directed to do so by an Authorised Officer. This applies to land open to the air where public have access across the whole of the county.
Order 4: The Exclusion of Dogs from Certain Areas
This proposed order will ban dogs from certain areas of land as specified in the order where children play, used for particular sporting or leisure purposes, community areas and designated fields.

We the undersigned object to Order 2: The Keeping of Dogs on Leads. Anyone with their dog off the lead in designated areas, which include most public open spaces in Hereford such as King George V playing field, Castle Green, Westfaling Street Park and Tupsley Quarry, will be issued with a fixed penalty notice fine of 80.

We believe that this discriminates against responsible dog owners who wish to exercise their dogs within open green spaces in Hereford.

Keeping dogs on leads could adversely affect a dogs health, weight and behaviour if it had been used to running around vigorously. Doing so could be contrary to the principles of the Animal Welfare Act.
An order to keep dogs on leads would affect a dog owners ability to exercise a dog thoroughly i.e. in terms of age, fitness level and time availability.
If these dog owners have to travel to neighbouring areas to exercise their dogs off the lead, this would have potential negative effects on government targets to improve the environment and reduce congestion as dog walkers would have to drive their cars to other locations to walk their dogs.
This order also discriminates against those dog owners who are not fortunate enough to have a car to drive to other locations outside of council control.

While we are fully in support of orders 1, 3 and 4, which encourage responsible dog ownership, we request that the council reconsiders Order 2.