Dog owners divided over off-lead beach rules

People in Jersey are divided over a petition asking for the rules governing when you can and can't walk your dog off-lead on the beach.

More than 1,000 islanders have signed the petition since the beginning of May, asking for the dates dogs need to be on lead changed from 1 May until the end of September to the end of May until 7 September.

Dog owner Annabel Hill said her dog got more exercise off-lead on the beach but parent Catherine Richardson said her family has had "quite a lot of issues" with dogs running over picnic blankets and urinating on their belongings.

The government said due to the upcoming election on 7 June, it would be up to the new administration to respond.

Sarah Esteves, who put forward the petition, said children were back at school by the end of September and so beaches would quieter.

She said shortening the restriction period would help with that: "It would ensure that dog owners have more weeks to let their dogs off the lead to enjoy the beaches and, for those energetic dogs, more freedom when off a lead allowing plenty of exercise."

Richardson said the period of time suggested in the petition was "too short" and she didn't agree with the petition's argument that there were fewer children around at the start of the current restrictions.

She said: "There's plenty of people at home with small children who aren't in school and so we certainly look forward to the better weather which comes in April, May, and that's the time that we start to get out on the beach more.

"Some people are very frightened of dogs and should be able to enjoy the outside space."

Dog owner Henry Hill said responsibility should lie with the owners.

He said they needed to "have the confidence that when they call, their dog will come back to them".

"If you've got a dog that won't listen to its name, it shouldn't be running around off lead but if you know it's going to come back when you call it, I can't see any problems," he said.

Hill said his dog loved being off lead: "For me it's just joy, you can almost see the smile on her face when she's just running and happy."

Karen Taylor supported the petition and said many beaches were mostly empty during the year.

She said: "We live directly opposite a beach, no one goes on that beach to sit, the only people that are ever on the beach are dog walkers."

Taylor said it made sense to shorten the restriction period: "Schools aren't out, so people aren't on the beach with kids.

"There's not lots of tourists over here on the beach at the beginning of May."

Statistics from Visit Jersey (VJ) showed there were more than 53,000 visits to the island in May and September last year, compared to more than 61,000 in July.

VJ said September was "typically considered to be part of the peak season" for the tourism and hospitality industries.

Follow BBC Jersey on X and Facebook. Send your story ideas to channel.islands@bbc.co.uk.