Jan Brand, Somerset West
The letter “Pristine beaches no more” (Bolander, April 13), in which the writer complained about the condition of Strand Beach and dogs on the beach, refers.
On Sunday April 3, I was called by two law enforcement officers who informed me that I was not allowed to walk my dog on the beach at Strand.
I explained to the officer that where I had entered the beach at the surfer house, there was no signage indicating that I was not allowed to walk my dog there.
I also told him that I was never warned or confronted for walking my dog on that specific stretch of beach from the surfer house to the fence and back.
His reply to this was that I should have read about the dogs not being allowed on the beach in the Strand in the local newspapers, and that they the law enforcement were instructed not to warn anybody but issue fines, as the people with their dogs are arrogant.
I also asked him why did they singled me out, as there were other people with their dogs on the beach – to which they replied that they saw me first before they saw the others.
The one officer did the talking and fine writing, and the other one was standing around not making any effort to confront the other people with their dogs.
I was also told I can walk my dog from the Pavillion towards Gordon’s Bay.
On that stretch of beach is fishing line, hooks, all kinds of rubbish and broken glass – which is extremely dangerous for the dogs and the people walking there.
Both officers did not have any identification or name tags, and upon enquiring about the name of the officer writing the fine, I was told I will see his name on the fine.
The other thing which also bothers me, is that law enforcement officers drive past all the people at the robots selling council refuge bags, and make no effort to arrest them and get the refuse bags back to the council.
Isn’t that more important than writing fines to dog owners at the beach?
