Why is it that every day for over a year now certain local people are waking us up at 6am with dogs off leads at the waterfront reserve at Orient Point near Orama Crescent?

Dogs barking as they bound about doing what comes naturally. Owners calling, whistling and making a general nuisance of themselves and then not picking up after the dogs at all.

To add insult to injury they sit under the new council sign prohibiting this activity!

Why can they do this day after day every day and not be fined or moved on like everyone else would be despite residents constantly advising council and sending photographic evidence to them.

It’s the same three or four people every single day. Do they have mates in the council protecting them?

Why is it that still nobody from council will investigate, caution, fine or prosecute?

The same people are doing this every day because they blatantly say the rangers are useless and they regard the wider community with contempt.

The question is what else is going on in the Shoalhaven that the council is ignoring and where else are they failing to enforce standing rules, regulations and laws? 

Guide Dogs NSW/ACT recently launched our new In Your Hands campaign, aiming to make the community aware that the safety of Guide Dogs is in the hands of pet owners.

Working Guide Dogs experience high levels of everyday distractions from pet dogs, including attacks – overwhelmingly from off-lead dogs.

These distractions can cause Guide Dog handlers, who are blind or vision impaired to experience anxiety, a loss of confidence, and have their safety and independence compromised.

We’re encouraging pet owners to keep their dogs on-lead when out in public and follow simple Guide Dog etiquette, to reduce these distractions.

You can help by following these simple steps:

Keep your pet dog on a leash and under control when out and about.

If you see a loose dog, please alert your local council.

If you see a working Guide Dog in harness, please give it and its handler space.

Don't pat, feed or otherwise distract a working Guide Dog. A well-intentioned pat can undo months of training.

When approaching a Guide Dog team with your dog, please clearly introduce yourself to the person and say you have a dog with you.

By keeping control of your own dog, you can help create a safe community, not just for Guide Dogs and their handlers, but for everyone.

What an insult – turning the “baby boomer” success story into an excuse for government failure. This was the view espoused by Tony Shepherd when recently interviewed by The Sydney Morning Herald.

During their lifetime the baby boomers existed in an environment of government of the people, by the people, for the people.

What did the federal and state governments expect to happen with the introduction of privatisation and the catchcry “government of the people, by big business, for big business”.

Our financial inertia is not the fault of a generation of hard working Australians. The sluggish working conditions, poverty and declining public health and education are the invention of a political-economic hypothesis that “greed is good”.

We have been enrolled in a society where lies and deception are the status quo; our existence is controlled by men and women sitting around boardroom tables.