Dogs would need to be on a lead at all times under new beach management proposals

Letting your dog run free on Bettystown beach may soon be banned

Sally Harding

Allowing your dog to roam free on Bettystown Beach may become a thing of the past if bye-laws proposed at a meeting of Laytown/Bettystown Municipal District Council today come into effect.

A beach management plan for the area which would include Laytown and Gormanstown beaches suggests a total ban on dogs without leads ALL YEAR ROUND. As it stands, pet owners are permitted during winter months to let their dogs off the leash as long as they are under proper control and effectively restrained from causing annoyance or danger to any person or worrying any animal according to current laws.  

But all of that could change if new regulations come into play. But what would that mean for the many animal lovers in the area and beyond who use the beach to exercise their dog every day?

Councillor Sharon Tolan who attended the meeting believes the move will have a negative impact on the area.“I think an all-out ban on allowing dogs to roam freely is completely unfair. It's extreme to decide that 12 months of the year, every day of the week and every hour of the day that dogs must be on a lead. Some kind of compromise can be found.

"Gardai can attend the beach where dogs are uncontrollable and that law is already there to protect us. This regulation might have been introduced in other areas but these areas have public parks where they can allow their dogs off the lead, we do not have these resources. We really need to have a good public consultation on this because the public is not fully aware of it.”

Cllr Tolan says there are alternative ways to address this problem. "I would like to see the appointment of a full-time beach warden and that is what we are aiming to have. They can then enforce rules and regulations in relation to certain hours for dogs to be off the lead or particular areas on the beach where they can roam. I think an all-out ban is very unfair and I don't see how it can be enforced.

Councillor Wayne Harding, on the other hand, supports this new development and believes it to be in the best interests for public safety. "I have witnessed incidents where children have become very scared by dogs off leads and while the dog owners might be absolutely certain that the dog is not a threat, the child does not know this. I fully support this recommendation.”