In response to Yvonne Halls’ letter regarding a ban of dogs on the Beach, oh my goodness – I totally disagree with you.

People have owned dogs for thousands of years, they bring joy and happiness into people’s lives.

I’ve owned a dog for years, and would certainly not be without her, she’s part of our family and always will be.

I love to take her to the beach, for long walks in beautiful places.

I don’t let her off though, mainly for the reason that she is super friendly and will not hesitate to go bounding up to people wanting a fuss. This can upset some people which I understand, so this, as far as I am concerned, makes me more of a responsible dog owner, so you can’t tar everyone with the same brush.

I think it is totally wrong of anyone to think that dogs should be banned from the beach.

The bottom end has been open to dogs all year round for as long as I can remember. It’s a tiny section of a huge beach – so where’s the problem?

No family really would even think of taking their children to this section to play, purely from the worry of having them step in or even worse, make sand castles with excrement mushed in the sand.

But this has been the case for years and years, it shouldn’t be closed off because more and more people are finally starting to moan about it. And people are. Everyone will moan at anything now a days purely because everyone else does. Britain is fast turning into a nation of moaners. No one can have a little fun anymore for fear of upsetting someone. And now, people are being moaned at because they have dogs! I will admit that some dog owners are extremely irresponsible. Taking my dog out in the evening, you have to watch where you are walking as the pavements are littered in dog dirt. People should be picking up and it annoys me that they don’t. But no matter how much moaning people do – it’s not going to change!

As for your line regarding people on mobility scooters – how disrespectful can you be! Maybe they are on scooters because they cannot walk for long periods due to health reasons – I am sure they are physically able to pick up after their dog, so to make the comment you did was totally unfair. This sounds to me like you have a different problem with people mobility scooters, not dogs!

My dog is my child, she is a member of my family. She is an animal yes, but that is all the more reason to treat her right, and ensure she enjoys life just as much as we do!!!

A loving dog owner

Weymouth