A STUDY has found Victoria\u2019s laws for dogs on beaches are failing, with as many as eight in 10 people disobeying the rules in some cases.<\/p>\n
The joint Deakin University-BirdLife Australia\u00a0study, to be published soon, surveyed 69 beaches across the Victorian coastline from Mallacoota to Portland and found non-compliance was putting endangered wildlife at risk.<\/p>\n
Researchers evaluated compliance with four different regulations: no dog zones, seasonal leash access, time restricted leash access, and dogs on leash at all times.<\/p>\n
Compliance varied between the different types of regulations, with the best in \u201cno dog\u201d zones with 18 percent non compliance, but the worst in \u201con leash\u00a0at all times\u201d zones with 79 per cent non-compliance.<\/p>\n
Co-author Associate Professor Mike Weston, from Deakin\u2019s Centre for Integrative Ecology within the School of Life and Environmental Sciences, said many pet owners just did not understand why it was a problem to have their dog off leash.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe they\u2019re just not aware of the damage that dogs can cause to the environment, or because people have close personal relationship with their dogs they want their dogs to have free exercise and they see that as harmless.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t help that it\u2019s often not clearly articulated why these restrictions are in place at some beaches.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile these can be regulations to avoid conflicts with other beach users, it\u2019s also about protecting native wildlife, particularly over spring and summer when birds are breeding.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said most Victorian beaches were open to dogs, so it was important that rules were followed when they were in place.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to change the way we think about how we have dogs on beaches,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople often say it\u2019s other dogs that kill wildlife, not theirs; or they think their dog is just having fun chasing birds. But even chasing has a very real effect on birds.\u201d<\/p>\n
Photographs gathered in the course of the research include images of dogs chasing birds, dogs crushing and eating nests, and young birds being killed by dogs.<\/p>\n
Associate Professor Weston said he and his collaborators would continue to look at ways of improving compliance.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore education, more awareness and better signage on beaches is needed, and part of that is getting serious about enforcing compliance too.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A STUDY has found Victoria\u2019s laws for dogs on beaches are failing, with as many as eight in 10 people disobeying the rules in some cases. The joint Deakin University-BirdLife Australia\u00a0study, to be published soon, surveyed 69 beaches across the Victorian coastline from Mallacoota to Portland and found non-compliance was putting endangered wildlife at risk. […]<\/p>\n