The Editor,
It was a beautiful day on the May long weekend and I was riding my bike along the Coquitlam River trail when a man and a woman and their large dog, off leash, came towards me from the opposite direction. As soon as the dog spotted me, it charged and I slammed on my brakes, skidding to a halt in time to have the dog leap on me, its head at equal height to mine while it stood on its hind legs.
I screamed and cringed, and the man ran towards me trying to call his dog off. At first, he apologized but then said, "You know, you should have just kept riding and this wouldn't have happened." I replied: "What do you think you could have done differently?" He grabbed his dog by the collar and said sheepishly, "I have done all I can do." Of note was that the dog leash was hanging around the woman's neck.
Last Saturday, I went on another ride to Coquitlam River and a similar occurrence took place not once but three times. In one instance, about six people were walking with about eight dogs, six of which were off leash. I rang my bell and tried to slowly go past as they called for their dogs to obey them. One of the dogs ran straight for me and I stopped but didn't get my feet off the pedals in time and was about to hit the dirt when one of the women in the group held me up.
They all again were holding or wearing their dog's leashes instead of having them on their dogs - and, hence, being able to control their pets.
I ask the question of all the irresponsible dog owners who feel they don't have to obey the bylaw and the signs that ask them to have their pets on a leash: Why do you do this?
You clearly do not have control of your dog if it charges someone and doesn't stop when you call it. If one of these dogs charges a little kid, that child is going to go down and be seriously hurt, as I could have been.
I think it is unfair that responsible and considerate trail users, including dog owners who leash their pets, have to continuously put up with this behaviour.
Theresa Hendriks, Coquitlam
