Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Boulder Dog Guardians must watch video/buy tags to let dgo walk off-leash

Starting this summer, dog guardians who want to let their dogs roam off leash on Boulder Open Space and Mountain Park trails must first view an 11 minute video explaining the City of Boulder's voice and sight control program for dogs and then purchase special tag. The proposed cost is a nominal $15 for Boulder residents.

The goal of the training is to make guardians aware of what is acceptable dog behavior and what is not. Violators are fined three times before off leash privileges are revoked. So far feedback has been positive. Many trail users have had bad dog experiences while hiking, but don't want to see an outright ban. The dog advocacy group Friends Interested in Dogs and Open Space (FIDOS) has been heavily involved in the entire process.

Many areas, such as the State Parks, do not allow dogs to be off leash. While this is controversial with some, keeping your dog leashed protects the animal from injury and disease due to contact with wildlife. Recently a local dog that strayed onto a mountain lion's kill was itself attacked and killed. another animal died from exposure to plague.

1 comment:

K T Cat said...

I would think that you would want your dog to be leashed when hiking. It would keep the dummy from running off after a squirrel.