Northwest Cape pet owners need to control their dogs
To the editor:
Center console fishing boats and barking dogs are both ubiquitous to northwest Cape Coral. The former is benign and the latter is problematic.
As someone who retired here recently I can honestly say I have never heard so many barking dogs throughout the day. Some of the dogs are indoors but their barking can be heard several streets from the source. Dogs can be heard barking when you are out in a boat on the canals. Some dogs are outside in the yard and bark.
One evening my wife and I were riding our bikes and a barking dog came running down the street at us before the owner called the dog to stop. The owner apologized but that dog was not properly controlled. On another evening a woman was walking her dog which started barking at us even though we were on the opposite side of the street. On other occasions we have encountered people walking their very well behaved dogs that did not overreact or bark.
My point is that the problem is with the owners, not the dogs. An undisciplined dog is a reflection of an undisciplined owner who has not properly trained the dog. My recommendation is for all dog owners to take responsibility for their dogs to determine if in fact they are barking too often and then take preventive action to mitigate the barking.
If you can hear your dog barking there is a high probability that others can also hear it barking and barking in my book is noise pollution that negatively affects quality of life.
Paul S. Kiefner
Cape Coral