Megan Wilson: Why I don’t like dogs - and why cats are so much better

A woman's dog was attacked by two other dogs in Mitchell Park in Bellevue on Sunday afternoon. Photo / Alex Cairns

OPINION:

I am sure this will be an unpopular opinion: I don’t like dogs.

My family has a ginger cat. Growing up, and to this day, I loved how gentle and subdued he was, curling up at the end of my bed at night or laying stretched out in the sun, bothering nobody.

But dogs stress me out - they have too much energy, they jump on you with dirty or wet paws and they destroy things.

My partner has a dog, to which he has lost an expensive car key, and my favourite pair of sunglasses have ended up in the rubbish bin.

When I arrive at my partner’s house, his dog often runs up to me as I get out of my car. His dog is normally excited to see me and her high level of energy takes me by surprise, which can make me feel uneasy.

I’ve stopped engaging with her, and eventually, she leaves me alone.

But when I go to visit my family in Auckland, I park my car and search in the gardens for my cat. He’s normally sleeping on a bed of leaves in the shade somewhere or on a warm patch of concrete in the sun.

I can pick him up and give him a cuddle, before he slinks away to find a new sleeping spot.

On Wednesday, the Bay of Plenty Times reported a Bellevue resident spent “thousands” of dollars on vet bills after her dog was “savaged” in a ferocious attack while they were walking in the park.

The resident said two dogs ran towards them and “sprung” at her dog Marley - one dog had Marley “tightly around the neck”, while its owner managed to kick the other dog aside.

Marley suffered injuries to his neck and spent the night at an after-hours vet. He has been recovering at home but has stitches all around his neck.

The resident also reported the incident to the council.

A similar attack happened in Rotorua last year when a small dog called Scamp was attacked by a larger one at a dog park. There have been other dog attacks reported in the media.

Attacks such as these do little to quell my fear of dogs.

It’s situations such as these where dog owners need to take more responsibility for their pets and consider how others might be affected by them.

Tauranga City Council (TCC) figures show there were 111 domestic animal attacks in the 2021/22 financial year, with a projected 114 attacks in the 2022/23 financial year.

According to TCC, owning a dog comes with the responsibility of keeping it under effective control at all times and preventing it from injuring, endangering, intimidating or distressing animals, wildlife or people.

Rotorua Lakes Council, on its website, says the council provides several areas where you can exercise your dog off-lead, but you must still be able to control it as if it were on a lead. If you can control your dog with a whistle, you may exercise it off-lead.

Tauranga has more than 15,000 known dogs and Rotorua has more than 12,000.

But not everyone appreciates dogs running up to them, especially when it leads to an expensive injury.

So, a call to dog owners who don’t keep their dogs under effective control in public - please do so.