Who's taking who for a walk? Dog walking and regulation in West Australian local government
Summary
Study on how local governments view dog ownership and regulations with people being encouraged to walk their dogs more.This paper states that dog ownership produces considerable health benefits and provides an important form of social support that may encourage dog owners to walk. The aim of the study outlined was to examine how local government employees perceive the role of dog ownership in the community and the regulatory issues associated with dogs in public places.
Group discussions and in-depth interviews with key personnel from local government authorities across metropolitan Perth highlighted positive and negative issues related to walking dogs in public. Positive aspects included a decrease in problems such as barking and an increase in knowledge of, and compliance with, local laws.
Local government employees discussed the wider community benefits of dog walking such as increased sense of community and social capital plus deterrence of local crime. Local government-related factors that encourage dog owners to walk included access to off-leash areas, design and quality of parks and provision of infrastructure such as dog litter bags and bins. Regulatory issues likely to arise as a result of more people walking their dogs are considered in terms of designing effective urban animal risk management plans for the future.