Letters to the editor: Tide times matter for dog walkers

There is debate over whether Tauranga should bring in on-leash hours for dogs on beaches. Photo / Hayden Woodward

I really sympathise with Viv Jones having been knocked down and injured on the Mount Beach.

l know there is a tiny number of dogs who are not well behaved, but for the most part, you see more boisterous animals restrained on walks.

People who take their dogs on walks generally care about their welfare and want their dogs to be well socialised.

As a small dog owner who loves to go to the beach to let her dog run, I think it would be very unfair to restrict usage or require restraint.

I travel from Tauranga city to the beach specifically at lower tides so there is plenty of area to walk.

I find the concept of limiting my walking times to the evenings and mornings extremely unfair.

We are already restricted from walking around the Mount or being on the beach in Pilot Bay and the Main Beach to Shark Alley.

We do not have dog parks in this area and we depend on the beach for exercise and fun.

Bridget E Gardner
Tauranga

Old St Nick

I was reading about St Nicholas, the man our modern Santa Claus was based on.

He was a compassionate man, who rode around the city on Christmas Eve, (and probably other times) secretly giving gifts to needy people.

Upon hearing of one desperate family, he threw a bag of gold through an open window, it landed in a sock drying by the fire, so now we know how Christmas stockings came about.

Thanks to all the people and organisations who continue this practice of care for others.

Peter Hardyment
Tauranga South

On division

A reader writes that, based on the fact that only 7 per cent of our eligible population have yet to have their first shot, we are not a nation divided (Letters, December 10).

An easy conclusion in this current social climate of the mass media and government deluge of Covid-itis.

On every TV channel, every ad break it seems, we are reminded to "get the jab", do it "for the whānau" and other messages that, in my view, promote fear and anxiety rather than the messages of security and safety that good government should promote.

I think the reality is that we are a divided society, divided over mandates that destroy the freedom our forefathers fought for, divided over the seizure of the "Three Waters" assets held in trust by our local bodies, divided over the UN agendas that mean farmers need to reduce their herds and therefore their incomes to mention just a few points of conflict.

John Williams
Ngongotahā

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