Franco Farrugia, Pieta
Dogs and swimmers can go together
According to Marianne Pace (Dogs And Children Swimming Together, August 20), dog owners (which I am not) should not be allowed to take their dogs swimming freely and she appeals to the authorities to “strike a balance between dog owners who want to take their dogs for a swim in this area, and us swimmers”.
I totally disagree. There is no balance needed between the two – they are perfectly compatible together. Quite the contrary, I thoroughly enjoy the company of a dog at the seaside and I laugh when I see such a dog enjoying itself swimming, head held high and paddling away.
Why is it that some of us simply abhor having animals around them? You see all sorts of parks and small gardens in Malta and Gozo with signs prohibiting dogs from entering! Are we now going to prohibit dogs from swimming “next” to us?
Do we want animals around only to serve and protect us? It’s not the first time that a dog came to the rescue of human beings in trouble at sea.
Ms Pace also appeals for CCTV surveillance “as some irresponsible dog owners let their dogs dirty the area and also the sand, which can prove to be very dangerous especially to children”. True: I simply hate such dirt. However, is this the only rubbish that Ms Pace chooses to see on the beach? CCTV surveillance would be welcome but there is so much more serious stuff that we need to survey, other than dog-poo! How about cigarette butts, plastic bottles, broken glass, used syringes, used condoms and other human-induced rubbish which is far more detrimental to children?
I am a swimmer. Respectfully, if Ms Pace does not feel safe next to a dog, it’s her problem. Only we, people who respect and look after animals, know the extent and the nonchalance of animal-cruelty going on in this country and I certainly feel that such a letter is detrimental to animal wellbeing.
We should cherish the presence of animals around us, not condemn it!
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jessica farrugia
Aug 26th 2010, 22:23
jina meta mur il-bahar u jkun em hafna familji bi tfal tajdx kemm idejquni tfal jajtu u jwerzqu u jibku! Gieli inkun mejta biex immur nejd xi haga lil genituri taghhom imma minix egoista jiena u flahhar mil ahhar kulhadd ghandu dritt igawdi il-bahar. jiena bi hsiebni ingib kelb fil ftit xur li jmiss u tajdx kemm ha niehu pjacir niehdu mijaj il bahar. Jekk xi hadd jaf fej tmur towm di marianne ejduli halli nibda mur hdejja bil kelb/a haha.
jiena jmissni nikteb artiklu issa biex in nies ma jiehdux it tfal taghhom fuq tal linja jew il bahar jew go restaurants ghax jiena idejjaqni l-ghajjat taghhom. ajma jahasra. Halluwa tejd nies, dik xaktarx al attenzjoni amlitu dak lartiklu. certu nies... nithassarom. gawduh il-bahar nies u annimali :)
jenkins maria
Aug 27th 2010, 18:36
:) hehe ekk hu!! lahhar li mort nixxemmex qlajt daqqa ta ballun tar ramel ,ghax zewg ti tfal bdew igaraw ir ramel.. allura x namlu nohorgu ligi li tfal ma joqodux fil bajjiet!! oqodu kwieti nies bhal marianne pace u hallu l haddiehor kwiet.
wendy mamo
Aug 26th 2010, 22:14
I for one have always taken my dog with me to the beach and will continue to do so till the day i die. keep your stupid opinions to yourself Ms Pace. if you dont like swimming near a dog go away . - SEMPLICI IL HAGA !!!
jenkins maria
Aug 27th 2010, 18:30
kemm naqbel ma li ghidt int!! mitejn fil mijja..
jenkins maria
Aug 26th 2010, 12:55
u leeee jahasra!! ma tritc klieb hdeja fil bahar!! din semat u rat fuq it tv ta barra li qedin j ghallmu il klieb tar razza labradors u golden retrevers isalvaw in nies milli jerqu!!! bhal ta bay watch imma flok nies klieb.. kiku emm inhallija tereq u ma nibatilix il kelb li hu tant bravu u nteligenti isalvahha.. pu alijom certi nies kollox itijom f ghajnom.. idawru id dinja il way tahhom.. alla hares kinu allat jew b xi poter..
C Cassar
Aug 25th 2010, 21:36
This is the reason dogs should be kept well away (in fact banned) from public places and only allowed in private areas. This little girl looks like she will lose her sight and all because of dog excrement in a public place. It is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS to everybody but particularly the very young.
"A toddler who fell in dog dirt in a children's playground at a Manchester park may have lost partial sight in one of her eyes."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-11012044
Franco Farrugia
Aug 26th 2010, 05:09
Please, tell us what kind of logic you use in your comment. You bring ONE, SINGLE happening that took place - all admit, from the comments on youtube, in which this also appeared, that it was a one-off, that it happened as we say in Maltese, 'b'cikka'. And you, bring it here to strengthen your 'argument'. I completely disagree with you. If this one-time happening had to include another human being, nothing is said, but since there is an animal involved, we come to senseless, illogical and unsound conclusions such as yours.
A toddler, aged 2, should not have been on her own, by the way.
Dog owners are responsible for their dogs' poo and must clean up.
All this shows that with responsibility, dogs should, and in fact can, be found just anywhere. It's the same with everything else, after all. This girl could have easily tripped and hurt her face with broken glass: human-induced. Shall we ban human beings from parks, then?
Janine Micallef
Aug 25th 2010, 13:13
Mr. Farrugia, you couldn't have put it any better. Well done! :)
S. Zammit
Aug 25th 2010, 11:58
If dogs are to swim with people they should be kept on a leash just like on land. I love dogs, and am the owner of two, but sometimes they are just unpredictable.
Franco Farrugia
Aug 25th 2010, 16:48
I wonder whether putting a dog on a leash while swimming could be dangerous in itself. Perhaps, it's not. I am not sure.
I agree wholeheartedly that they are unpredictable. But so are human beings, allow me to reiterate. Have you heard of that clip doing the rounds yesterday and today about that gentle lady who threw into the garbage a beautiful and friendly cat? She was caught on CCTV. I think enough is said about the human being's 'predictability'!
Franco Farrugia
Aug 25th 2010, 16:59
Dear Ms S. Zammit - Allow me to give some anecdotes, all real:
1: there was this man, swimming with his dog, which was not on a leash. Suddenly, there was another person in the water was in distress and needed help. This first man, the dog owner, was not a great swimmer himself and was terrified of going out at sea to help the second man, he was also afraid that the struggling man would pull him down. The dog, of its own accord - and this is documented by people who were watching everything safely atop a pier! - swam towards the man in distress, went next to him and allowed the man to clutch at the collar and the dog helped him back to safety.
2: Same as above, only the dog WAS, in fact, on a leash. The dog could not go to the man's help because his master pulled at the leash and did not allow him to approach the person in distress, for fear that that person would pull the dog down under the water.
Ms Zammit - dogs are more altruistic than human beings. Bealways wary but don't be afraid of their presence.
George Debono
Aug 25th 2010, 17:58
S. Zammit
Keep a dog on a lead when swimming ??? What nonsense.
I would say that keeping a dog on a lead while swimming would be quite dangerous.
In any case:
1) Can you quote a single case where a swimming dog endangered a child?
2) The original letter of last Friday gave the impression that St Julians bay is infested by dangerous swimming dogs. I can see the entire beach right up to Exiles from our balcony and rarely see any swimming dogs. I have only seen one cute little gingery terrier mongrel regularly on the beach - but rarely other dogs...
3) I swim every day at exiles. My dog swims too and the kids love him.
What's all the fuss about?
Isabella Peresso Fiorentino
Sep 1st 2010, 21:52
Yes, like children.
S.Azzopardi
Aug 25th 2010, 11:01
Well said !
Antoine Grima
Aug 25th 2010, 10:21
Well said Franco .I take my dogs to the beach every Sunday morning. I do this at 6.00am not to bother anyone.I go so early with the intent of leaving by 9.00am or as soon as people start turning up.I make sure not to leave anything behind and most of the time i leave the place cleaner than i found it.Walking back to my car with the dogs , sometimes the looks you get from people , as if to say , ''Don't tell me you have been on the beach with them things?'' It really hurts to have so many people who dislike and even hate such beautifull loving creatures . My dogs are all strays , thanks to some christian who had enough of them and just threw them out .It's a shame i cannot take more inn .I would never dream of being without a dog in my life. They have always been my best friends and will always be just that .
Franco Farrugia
Aug 25th 2010, 16:49
Congratulations for having adopted strays. You couldn't have shown your love for animals in a better way. Stray cats have made my life all the richer, not human beings!
mary Pace
Aug 25th 2010, 10:12
I agree with all you said, Franco farrugia 100%,I don't have a dog, because I don't have the time to look after any animals, but ,like I said i agree with you,
robert micallef
Aug 25th 2010, 10:09
you are acting in the same way as the people who left the rubbish, dog poo, condoms etc by saying that if she does not feel safe its her problem. the problem is that a good number of dog owners do not pick up the mess that the dog leaves behind. Also just because they "know" their dog is safe does not mean that I know your dog or i am willing to trust the dog in particular with my kids. therefore dogs should be on a leash. With some large dogs all you need is one bite. i know what i am saying as i do have large dogs. it was my good tempered silly dog which opened another one of my dogs all the lenght of the belly with one bite and no warning , she just got jealous. had it been a childs face it would have ruined their life. am i willing to risk a childs life for the sake of my dogs ? no.
Franco Farrugia
Aug 25th 2010, 16:45
By the same token, all human beings should be put to jail, or on a leash! That doesn't happen; so i t shouldn't happen to dogs.
robert micallef
Aug 25th 2010, 17:06
as you put dogs and humans on the same level let me explain it to you in words you might understand.
i will take my dogs to where your stray cats are kept and when they have been attacked i will tell you "sorry but i do not keep my dogs on a leash because, well we don't keep humans on a leash"
as you can see you have no argument because as you yourself say you do not keep dogs but cats. a bite from a big dog is not the same as from a pussy cat. unless you keep tigers of course, i'm sure you would let it run free as well as we don't keep humans on a leash so tigers should run free too :) by your argument of course.
George Debono
Aug 25th 2010, 17:11
RE "...my good tempered silly dog.." " ...opened another one of my dogs all the length of the belly with one bite and no warning........."
Gee ! and I presume that this happened while the aforementioned "good tempered silly dog" and "another of your dogs" were swimming togther in the sea?
G :-)
all the lenght of the belly with one bite and no warning
robert micallef
Aug 25th 2010, 17:25
dear George
no they were not in the sea but running out in the fields with no kids in the area. both dogs were running across each other, the german shep bit my hunting dog in the belly and with the speed they were both going the belly was ripped open like with a knife.
i dont know if i still have pics of the injury, however i get the feeling that people here never try to understand the argument but just believe what they want to believe.
i am saying that the greatest problem with dogs are their owners themselves because they do not respect other people. whether they are on the beach or not is not important. of course if you want respect in Malta you won't find any
Franco Farrugia
Aug 25th 2010, 18:04
'i am saying that the greatest problem with dogs are their owners themselves because they do not respect other people.'
Now THAT's the first reasonable statement you've made.
Kenneth Curmi
Aug 26th 2010, 08:22
@ Franco Farrugia
I think he made more than one.
R. Azzopardi
Aug 25th 2010, 10:08
There's nothing cuter than dogs and kids swimming together.