I READ the news item on stray dogs in Orange.
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As a regular evening walker in the Orange town streets I have confronted stray dogs on several occasions.
On three occasions dogs have attacked me and once it was that intense that I had to rush to Orange Hospital to get an anti-tetanus shot.
It is indeed a sad thing to note that many residents of Orange are reckless allowing their dogs to stray into streets, unsupervised.
On two occasions I lodged complaints with the police. That is the only source available since I go for my walks after 6pm, when the Orange City Council office is unattended.
The police asked me on both occasions whether I could identify from where the dogs came. I used to feel amused about that question, since how am I to know which house fence the dog had jumped or which house gate the dog had escaped. It is a stray animal as far as I am concerned.
Moreover, it comes barking and charging from an unexpected quarter of the street and the suddenness always panicked me.
The other sad dimension of the dog-owner story is that some of the owners allow the dogs to stay off the leash when they walk them in town streets. These dogs, out of their possible excitement, turn to be a nuisance to walkers like me.
The dog owners, who walk at a distance, shout that the dogs won’t bite, but they will lick me to death. I always ask myself whether the dogs know this dictum; the owners may.
I am not averse to dogs; I like them as long as they are supervised and remain leashed in public places.
More than the dogs, the dog owners need to be more responsible, considering that not everyone on the street is a dog lover.
Yours faithfully,
Raman Anantanarayanan
BATHURST FEELS THE SAME
THE people of the Orange electorate in the recent state byelection have sent a clear message to the government that they are not happy. That same sentiment I am sure would echo through the Bathurst electorate if there was an election now.
The government pulling the greyhound racing ban out of a hat and the forced council amalgamations when it was promised that this would not be the case have left the government – and in particular the Nationals – with egg on their faces.
Neither the forced council amalgamations or the ban on greyhound racing were policies that were taken to the last election. We were in reality ambushed by both of these.
In the case of forced council amalgamations our local elected member for Bathurst Paul Toole has demonstrated that he cannot be trusted and no longer deserves to represent us in government.
Many politicians seem to forget that we elect them to represent us. They are working for us, the electorate. We are not there for them. We effectively employ them to serve us and to look after our interests .
It is still two years to the next state election and I am sure there are many who will have long memories.
Mr Toole’s photo appears often in the local papers heralding some grant of money from the government for some local project. He portrays the view that we the electorate should be grateful to him for these acts of charity.
We give the government money in the form of taxes and duties. This is our money that we give the government.