WHY are we fencing in our children while our dogs run free?

NHS data show that last year there were over 8000 consultations with a treating healthcare professional in response to dog bites and attack.

If each consultation in A&E or primary care is costed out at say £200, then that’s £1.6 million spent because dog owners can’t control their dogs.

That’s also 8,000 consultations that took the place of other people waiting to receive medical attention.

It’s not surprising perhaps that in a seaside town we have many dog owners.

Retirement pooches especially after COVID-19 provide solace and comfort to people, especially those living on their own. This companionship matters. As a dog owner myself, I don’t believe it’s too much to ask though that dog owners keep their animals on leads on pavements and public highways.

Neither is it too much to make the dog owner responsible for their pet’s behaviour and it’s certainly not too much to punish those who fail to control their animals.

The value owning an animal provides humans is significant.

But people are more important than pets. In most parks, playing fields and playgrounds, we have a dedicated area for young children which is secure.

The purpose of that security is to allow toddlers to toddle about and their parents not to worry that they’ll escape when their back is turned. (The 0 to 60 mph a speeding toddler can manage still amazes me!)

The rest of a park or indeed any open space, should be safe for older children and young people to be free ranging, whether having a kick about, throwing a frisbeeor simply running around screaming and laughing in a game of tag.

Parents of primary school children should not have to worry that their eight-year-olds will be chased and terrified by a fully intact Rhodesian ridgeback.

Our open spaces should not be a giant dog toilet.

Those parks that have enough space, should have fenced off areas for dogs to run around off the lead, poo and pee.

When will the Liberal Democrat led Teignbridge District Council put our young people’s health and wellbeing above the demands of the dog lobby and show some leadership on this issue?

End note re: NHS prescription crisis I wrote last week about my 85-year-old mother’s problems getting her prescription filled.

She was told there was a global shortage. I compared my local experience of requesting and receiving my prescription for the same drug in a matter of days.

It’s important to stress that my mother and I live in different counties, and it is this geographical difference, not her age, that explains the difference in drug supply. Pharmacists do not prioritise patients by age.

There is most clearly a crisis in the NHS at all levels. Regarding dispensing at chemists, one issue we face is that we simply don’t have enough pharmacists.

Why? One glaring reason is Brexit and the exodus of trained pharmacists back to their more welcoming

European countries. Access to medication should not be a post-code lottery and we cannot wait for home-grown pharmacists to graduate!

We need our government to be strategic and bold about solving this situation right now.