The dog days of summer… By all accounts, the hottest days of the year have passed in Dubai. But recent events seem to have put JVT into something of a dog ‘daze’. In effet, ‘to daze’ is defined by the Random House dictionary as ‘to stun or stupefy’, ‘to confuse or bewilder’. Most of us have been put into a deep daze by the dreadful dog death of late. Yet even before, the dog topic came up often among residents. Incensed by walking past many dog droppings, I had originally entitled this posting “Pick up the Poop!”  I’m still outraged by the number of animal feces I find on sidewalks. It’s incredible that dog owners do not, at a minimum, get their dog to squat in the sand next to a tree versus right in the middle of a walking path!   See evidence:

However, given the recent turn of events, I have revised my initial story to reflect upon the stir caused by the vicious mauling of two small pups. Tempers have flared on Facebook and hundreds of residents have expressed their shock at the outrageous killing of the little dogs by a ferocious Doberman on the loose! My initial reaction was utter disbelief.

I met the family shortly after the incident and their grief over the terrible tragedy was still fresh. I add my condolences for their loss to the outpouring of sympathy expressed by so many other fellow residents online. In the wake of this calamity, a number of dog walking residents have taken to facing off with dog owners that allow their faithful companions to walk free from a leash. Some people may feel a dog should not be tethered, however, given the appalling recent event, one could expect that dog owners only give their pets freedom within the confines of their gated yard ensuring also that there is no option for escape. Clearly, the aftermath of this incident has brought out a lot of opinions and created a huge on line chatter.

A park just for dogs?

One resident had a clever idea – why not request a fenced in dog park for the community? Some seem clearly in favor. A few have voiced their disapproval and concern for increased maintenance fees. Let me say here that I do not have any animals. Yet, I can see there exists a large percentage of animal-loving residents that call JVT home. For their sake and that of the animals, I favor the creation of a dog facility. For the safety of small children and the ability of all residents to enjoy walking in the park without having a large dog race after them, I would also vote to have a special dog area.

Of course, we are not at liberty to design our community as we might jointly see fit. This is the prerogative of Nakheel. Therefore, I proposed to contact Nakheel on this matter. My request explained the awful incident and suggested Nakheel may wish to work with residents and explore the various concerns in order to avert any such future tragic occurrence. I informed them that a number of residents had a concrete proposal to discuss:

JVT residents have two requests to put forward to Nakheel for your kind consideration:
1) Create a dog park within JVT that would have a high fence around it and an obstacle course for the dogs to run.

2) Put up signs around all other parks that dogs are only permitted on leashes and that owners must clean up dog poop.  Supply dog poop bins around the community.

I even suggested that residents would willingly form a small committee to work with Nakheel on design issues should they agree to a future dog park.

Their response:

Rest assured that we are working on increasing the awareness about the Rules and Regulations by sending out Notices to the all dog owners across Nakheel communities. Once the parks are completed, plan to enforce of installing signage and proposed fences will be forwarded to the management. Hope this clarifies your queries.

Hum, waiting until the parks are finished seems ludicrous. As the reply did not exactly answer my questions with full clarity, I have requested a precise response regarding the possibility for Nakheel to discuss the creation of dog facilities with concerned residents.  Stay tuned for their answer.  While we wait, why not vote on whether you are in favor of a dog-specific park? Click here.

Now, back to the poop !

Dogs are lovely, in my opinion, and I have encountered many gentle furry friends while walking through the neighborhoods. One can see poodles, Labradors, pugs and borzoi, just to name a few. Unfortunately, we can also find a lot of POOP !

Now this really baffles me. How can kind-hearted animal lovers not respect the environment? I cannot believe that they think they are alone living in JVT. Have they no consideration for others? All the adult dog walkers I have come across appear to be friendly and caring. Yet they are not very thoughtful. Simply leaving your dog’s poop on the sidewalk just in front of a children’s playground is frankly rude.

Even prior to the disastrous attack, a raft of comments on the various community Facebook pages demonstrates the general frustration level of residents about dog manners. Many dog owners themselves have commented on this unacceptable behaviour.

I was particularly amused by this lovely sign made by Sheila Tildesley-Linton on Facebook.

To give dog lovers the benefit of the doubt, I wonder if the problem could stem from a lack of trash cans. I’ve only noticed a few. Therefore, I had already previously contacted Nakheel to request the installation of poop bins. Yes, I’m still waiting for an answer on that one too. In the meantime, don’t leave home without your doggy bag and please scoop the poop!