Tiny dog run over by cyclists in Delta Park

[MudLark]

I definitely wasn't having a go at you. Sorry.

 

I'm just sickened that anyone could run over a puppy and gap it

Yes, it's lousy.

[100Tours]

I have previously connected with a dog in Emmarentia. the dog was poorly sighted in one eye and running at an angle, so he connected me at about the same time that I connected the fence in my efforts to avoid him. In hindsight I should have slowed down to pass rather than trying to get around him, but these crashes will always happen when you mix dogs and cyclists.

 

Was that puppy controlled/predictable in its behaviour. Probably not. But the cyclists should absolutely have stopped to apologise.

[Simon Kolin]

With the greatest respect to all parties involved, the law clearly states that....

 

"Subject to section 16(1) of the Council’s Public Open Spaces By-laws, published under Notice 831 in Provincial Gazette Extraordinary No. 179 dated 21 May 2004, no person may permit any dog to be in a public place unless it is kept on a leash and under control of a person."

 

Mr Warren Knocker (dog owner), why was your pup not on a leash as required of you? Surely if this was the first public outing with the pup, he should have been on a leach for his own safety. You only have yourself to blame.

 

Mr cyclist(s), while I don't know your side of the story, it sounds like a totally spineless move to injure an animal and not to stop to assess the situation. Don't be a bunt!!! I really hope you step up and apologies.

[Kranswurm]

With the greatest respect to all parties involved, the law clearly states that....

 

"Subject to section 16(1) of the Council’s Public Open Spaces By-laws, published under Notice 831 in Provincial Gazette Extraordinary No. 179 dated 21 May 2004, no person may permit any dog to be in a public place unless it is kept on a leash and under control of a person."

 

Mr Warren Knocker (dog owner), why was your pup not on a leash as required of you? Surely if this was the first public outing with the pup, he should have been on a leach for his own safety. You only have yourself to blame.

 

Mr cyclist(s), while I don't know your side of the story, it sounds like a totally spineless move to injure an animal and not to stop to assess the situation. Don't be a bunt!!! I really hope you step up and apologies.

Nice,

Now go and place it on the page that belongs to the person you are addressing

[PhilipV]

Dog walker is at fault. Bike rider is at fault.

Times are tough, stress levels are high and humanity has gone out of the window.

 

I think we've reached the point where more people on bikes isn't necessarily a good thing. In general we have too many assholes riding, and we are riding in condensed spaces where trails are shared, and trail usage is at an all time high.

[MudLark]

With references to the various posts pertaining to the bylaw relating to dogs having to be on leashes, there are parks designated specifically as off leash areas for dogs. A list of them can be found here: https://joburg.co.za/dog-friendly-parks/

[TNT1]

Did the tiny dog died?

[dave303e]

So I fall on all 3 sides of the poop show that is Delta Park currently, we walk the dogs there daily, I run and I ride there at least 5 times a week.

 

First issue is the number of people all of a sudden using the park. With gyms closed, no school sports, no races, no social gatherings it seems all and sundry have decided going to the park on the weekend is the next best thing. No issue with it, but people need to have some common sense and manners all round.

 

There are dogs off lead who have had 0 training or have 0 manners and have obviously barely been walked in their lives. If you go on the Blairgowrie Facebook page there have been incidents of big dogs taking out kids, dogs killing ducks, dog bites and more. I personally got bitten while out running a few weeks back, that was a long way up the spruit from delta but not somewhere I expected a dog off lead.

This incident was sadly merely a matter of time event based on the volume of dog/cyclist interactions in recent weeks. I am not blaming this exact dog owner as I don't know them or the animal and didn't see the incident, but something like this has been a while coming sadly. You see dogs running in front of runners and cyclists daily and cyclists flying long shared paths so it has been a while coming.

 

Also you can literally smell the dog poop in the park, it is so bad, I have called out so many people not picking it out and have been called a number of things. Now it is best to pick it up and hand the bag of poop to the owner. If their car can be identified it goes well into the radiators or on the exhaust pipes.

 

As for dogs on leads, I think most should be on lead, some are well trained enough to come off lead but they should still be on lead most of the time and only come off where/when there is some space and no one else around. One can also be sensible and have the dog off the lead far from the busy paths where there is space and fewer people.

 

The bigger issue is small children, one can be certain if it wasn't a dog it was going to be a kid because parents have 0 control of their kids. Lighties riding push bikes up the jump line, one kid the other day was there with his bucket and spade digging the fresh dirt jozi trails put on the berm. Parents were about 10m away not paying attention and were very defensive when called out. Can you imagine the uproar if a cyclist hit a jump only to find a kid sitting on the landing? Kids on small bikes are often less in control and more unpredictable than dogs off lead.

 

Cyclists sadly don't do themselves any favors, riding away from the incident was cowardice to say the least, we also have to now realise that the park is not somewhere you can charge around unless you are there when it is quiet which at the moment is not on the weekends ever.  The park at lunch time during the week is a pleasure, so if you want to chase segments I suggest doing it then.

Sadly common sense, common etiquette and common logic are long lost in the park and there seems to be a lot of poop rising to the surface of the gene pool at the moment. Obviously the lack of education spans back a long time if you see how few can read a sign. Jozi trails, I feel for how much money you have wasted on signs to be ignored.

 

But ya, sorry for the hound, but something needs to change or this is not going to be the last incident of this nature in that park.

[TNT1]

 

 

As for dogs on leads, I think most should be on lead, some are well trained enough to come off lead but they should still be on lead most of the time and only come off where/when there is some space and no one else around. One can also be sensible and have the dog off the lead far from the busy paths where there is space and fewer people.

 

 

 

 

It's a public space. You can have one rule and everyone and their dog can follow it. 

[eddy]

So I fall on all 3 sides of the poop show that is Delta Park currently, we walk the dogs there daily, I run and I ride there at least 5 times a week.

 

First issue is the number of people all of a sudden using the park. With gyms closed, no school sports, no races, no social gatherings it seems all and sundry have decided going to the park on the weekend is the next best thing. No issue with it, but people need to have some common sense and manners all round.

 

There are dogs off lead who have had 0 training or have 0 manners and have obviously barely been walked in their lives. If you go on the Blairgowrie Facebook page there have been incidents of big dogs taking out kids, dogs killing ducks, dog bites and more. I personally got bitten while out running a few weeks back, that was a long way up the spruit from delta but not somewhere I expected a dog off lead.

This incident was sadly merely a matter of time event based on the volume of dog/cyclist interactions in recent weeks. I am not blaming this exact dog owner as I don't know them or the animal and didn't see the incident, but something like this has been a while coming sadly. You see dogs running in front of runners and cyclists daily and cyclists flying long shared paths so it has been a while coming.

 

Also you can literally smell the dog poop in the park, it is so bad, I have called out so many people not picking it out and have been called a number of things. Now it is best to pick it up and hand the bag of poop to the owner. If their car can be identified it goes well into the radiators or on the exhaust pipes.

 

As for dogs on leads, I think most should be on lead, some are well trained enough to come off lead but they should still be on lead most of the time and only come off where/when there is some space and no one else around. One can also be sensible and have the dog off the lead far from the busy paths where there is space and fewer people.

 

The bigger issue is small children, one can be certain if it wasn't a dog it was going to be a kid because parents have 0 control of their kids. Lighties riding push bikes up the jump line, one kid the other day was there with his bucket and spade digging the fresh dirt jozi trails put on the berm. Parents were about 10m away not paying attention and were very defensive when called out. Can you imagine the uproar if a cyclist hit a jump only to find a kid sitting on the landing? Kids on small bikes are often less in control and more unpredictable than dogs off lead.

 

Cyclists sadly don't do themselves any favors, riding away from the incident was cowardice to say the least, we also have to now realise that the park is not somewhere you can charge around unless you are there when it is quiet which at the moment is not on the weekends ever.  The park at lunch time during the week is a pleasure, so if you want to chase segments I suggest doing it then.

Sadly common sense, common etiquette and common logic are long lost in the park and there seems to be a lot of poop rising to the surface of the gene pool at the moment. Obviously the lack of education spans back a long time if you see how few can read a sign. Jozi trails, I feel for how much money you have wasted on signs to be ignored.

 

But ya, sorry for the hound, but something needs to change or this is not going to be the last incident of this nature in that park.

All of that is true, bit I maintain sanity by treating kids and dogs in Delta the way I expect motorists to treat me on the road.

 

Recognise my vulnerability, give me space and treat me wih respect

[Uni]

Problem exists at all shared spaces. At Huddlepark I've been arguing with them about saying all dogs must be on a lead and only well behaved dogs can be off lead..you can't have subjective laws.

In the past few weeks a kid on a bike was bitten by a dog, and a dog got attacked by another dog. Theres poop all over the bike paths, there's moms that drop their kids off with their bikes and go off to shop or have coffee and these kids are pushing their bikes up trail run only routes and up jump lines as well.

 

We don't want a nanny state but it seems most people simply aren't interested in policing themselves.

[Eldron]

Like most of these problems - the solution is behavioral change.

 

A bit more "respect the people around me" and a bit less "f*ck you mate - I'm ok".

 

Sadly SA is not currently Happyville and as the stress in the pressure cooker increases humans tend more to the "f*ck you mate I'm ok approach".

[Simon Kolin]

Nice,

Now go and place it on the page that belongs to the person you are addressing

[Simon Kolin]

Thanks, very helpful comment

Edited August 17, 2020 by Simon Kolin

[slickjay007]

With references to the various posts pertaining to the bylaw relating to dogs having to be on leashes, there are parks designated specifically as off leash areas for dogs. A list of them can be found here: https://joburg.co.za/dog-friendly-parks/

 

That list is so outdated. The newest comment is over 25 weeks old. 

[Pure Savage]

Now this is getting very heated on Facebook with comments ranging from hitting cyclists with pipes, sticking walking sticks in their spokes, thumbtacks on the cycling trails etc.

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/deltapark/permalink/3252652974830541/

 

Posted this in Cycling Safety because the few that ruin it for the many will now cause retaliation by a mob of angry walkers in the park.

Strange how the dog could get run over if it was on a leash.

 

We have the same problem in Cape Town with dogs off the leash, even with the kids, its funny when a Labrador runs across the path and knocks my son off his bike. All laughs. Then when a little fur rat does the same and he runs it over its snot and tears... The owners of the dogs always say, "Never done this before" and they are always 200m away from the dog with zero control. 

 

People need to understand they have to be in control of their dog in a park.

Edited August 17, 2020 by Pure Savage