ON MONDAY, April 25 this year a fit, 83-year-old cyclist was knocked off his bike in Taylor Park by a dog apparently chasing a ball thrown by its owner.

He ended up going to hospital, via an ambulance, where he had stitches in his head, shoulder, hand and leg. A second cut on his leg could not be stitched because of its depth and the tissue damage he had suffered.

His ribs were so badly bruised that he cannot sleep in his own bed. He has to sleep downstairs in an armchair. This is the second time he has been injured by a dog in Taylor Park. This time, however, he could have been killed.

Perhaps this serious incident will focus the minds of the players in the long running (and seemingly unresolvable) debate about dog fouling and dog control in our public spaces, which has largely been conducted via the letters pages of the local press.

The two most vociferous “camps" involved i.e. the upset/concerned general public and the “responsible” dog owners seem unable to reach any kind of agreement on a way forward. Of course we never hear anything from the real problem makers – the irresponsible dog owners who presumably couldn’t care about the impact of their anti-social behaviour on other people.

We also never hear from the council about how it could help resolve the issue. We all recognise that the Tory government has slashed the council’s spending and the much reduced dog warden and parks rangers services are completely overstretched, but the council could utilise existing legal powers to designate areas where dogs must be on leads and, by definition, areas where dogs are free to run and socialise.

Doing so would attach dogs to their owners, hence reduce the potential conflict between the dogs and the public, reduce the number of times owners are “unaware" their dogs have fouled and avoid the “he’s only being friendly" scenario of unfamiliar dogs bounding up to toddlers, and adults, and terrifying them. Designated areas could be signed to the effect that “dogs must be on a lead".

Then anyone could point out to offending dog owners that they must comply or be reported to the relevant authorities. At present only authorised officers can tell owners to put an offending dog on a lead, and then only if it “is out of control".

No one is suggesting dogs should be banned from our parks but, in Taylor Park for example, there are areas where cyclists are told to get off their bikes to minimise clashes with the walking public, but dogs can run around anywhere.

Let’s stop pussy-footing around and see some action to address this serious problem before we have an even more serious accident.

Pete Yates