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Enough with the Seawalk hectoring
Dear Editor:
Sometimes when I walk my dog on the West Vancouver Seawalk she gets to the break in the fence before I do and runs out to greet me. Today, she ran along the water on the rocks until the doggie fence began, and then went behind it and continued her jaunt. Many, many strangers take delight - and often tell me so - in seeing my dog so happy, tongue hanging out, enjoying our beautiful West Van neighborhood. However, there is a small percentage of people who feel so threatened by my dog's bylaw-breaking actions that they react in an abusive and menacing manner towards us.
Today was the third time in two months I've had a walker remind me in self-righteous tones, to put it mildly, that my dog should not be anywhere but behind "that fence." After 15 years of walking my dog on the Seawalk, all I have left to say is, "Relax."
I don't like the bylaw, but I obey it. Sometimes my dog's paws hit the Seawalk's pavement and I usher her back to her side of the fence. But if you catch us before I do so, please don't yell at us anymore, shaking your finger as if we're tainting your concrete stroll, nor raise your fist to us, as one man actually did in front of his five-year-old. Just relax, the dog will go back to her fenced-in walkway and we'll continue to enjoy our walk, as should you. Don't get as angry as you do; it's just not necessary.
Lani Milstein
West Vancouver
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