On 10-3-11 @ appx. 4p.m. about half a mile s. of Turtle Beach my partner and I were accosted by untethered large dogs who were hundreds of yards from their owners. As a stroke victim and both of us being cancer survivors, the last thing we need is to fend off dogs while we are sun/ocean bathing. This is not the only time we have been threatened by large untethered dogs on the beach or in parks on LBK OR SIESTA AND ANNA MARIA.
On Long Boat Key, we were accosted by a barking, aggressive Great Dane and another large dog in the beautiful Joan M. Durante park. The dog owners had let the dogs off the leash even though they clearly saw the "no unleashed dogs" in park sign, which was on display at the time of the attack, spring 2010. After the violent event with the dogs coupled with the behavior of the dog owner's,who took no responsibility for the incident, while seeking to blame us for their animal's actions, caused me to suffer a seizure from the all the stress. WE HAVE SEEN NO RESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOR FROM THESE ISLAND DOG OWNERS HERE, quite the opposite.
We no longer go to that park and we do not shop or dine on Long Boat Key because the town officials are more concerned with appeasing "dog owner-vacationers" and "home owners with liberal dog sentiments", than with actual safety issues on the streets, parks and beaches of your community. For instance if we encounter a bad dog on the beach at Lido what chances it OR ANOTHER DOG may turn up in the PARKING LOT AT A RESTAURANT ON THE CIRCLE. I can't expose my family to these possible risks so we go elsewhere to eat. Sure we do not enjoy all we might experience but this way I don't have to destroy a dog, sue a dog owner or a municipality. We have the choice of avoiding restaurants and businesses that allow dogs but, in public places our choice is removed whenever and wherever dogs are allowed to roam. We are not losing out on experiences because of fear but because of inept cowardly municipal management. I will demand explanation from these officials on camera at public forums should any children be attacked.
Sarasota and Manatee counties are our second home and we will be buying on some island soon, but it won't be on one that isn't concerned with public safety with regards to large dangerous animals. We use the beach for rehab. Salt water helps rashes. not the antibiotic laden dog urine on the beach. Dog urine does not enhance my health, nor that of the multitudes of people who use the beach for medical purposes as well as spiritual reasons. We are medical practitioners and ministers.
A person can get better and more oxygen while standing by the ocean than any where else. The ocean provides more oxygen that stroke victims like myself require. Should a person re-oxygenating themselves by the shore have to concern their mind with the possibility of a dog attack while meditating and re-oxygenating?
For 50 combined years our not-for-profit clinic/non-lending medical library and has been decrying the dangers of second-hand ingestion of antibiotics. Your town insists on antibiotic laden dog urine and feces being efficiently distributed on the beaches of paradise through irresponsible, outdated dog restraint laws or the lack of modern dog control laws. Why eat organic if I will be contaminated by antibiotics, genetically modified medicines and foods, all of which do not bio-degrade and your dog excretes on the beaches and which are in all non-organic meats and dairy you consume and in the dog food your pet consumes.
After your visit to the beach the debris formerly known as dog excretion is in or on your child. if you spend money on organics to avoid antibiotics in meat and dairy you are exposing them to these poisons when you go to the beaches that allow dogs!!! Because the dogs excrete these things on the beach. It's in their pee, spit and poo! kiss your dog? it's in you too!

Loose dogs flush migrating birds from their resting and feeding areas thus weakening them and further endangering any of those that may be a threatened species. Also dogs off leash will eat birds, eggs, small creatures, disrupt nesting sites etc. Dogs can't tell if it is an endangered species their owner is allowing them to scavenge! Dogs are not a natural part of the American environment. Dogs excrete antibiotics which disrupt natural microbes. On the beach I expect fish feces. I expect bird feces. I do not enjoy having to walk through dog urine and feces to placate the demands of rude tourists and even ruder local folk who think its okay for their dogs to be loose and act as they please.

Many people practice their spirituality and meditations as well as medical rehab and/or exercise on the beach. Violent encounters from dogs should be unacceptable, not considered "a price the town must pay to attract vacationers". If a child becomes injured, maimed or killed after you receive this memo, the elected officials will really enjoy attention from and scrutiny by masters of "interrogation and interview" demanding straight answers at public meetings under video scrutiny and nationwide display. Let's not forget possible lawsuits. We have already crossed several communities off our possible home purchase list because of dogs. If you allow dogs on the beach we will not eat at your restaurants, we will not shop at your stores, we will not encourage people to visit a community without enough respect for it's citizenry to keep dogs out of bathing areas for people and out of pristine wildlife areas that LOOSE DOGS contaminate. With the exception of wolves, coyote, dingo, fox and such; dogs are genetically manipulated tools that have no place in the natural environment. These are the hard cold facts. I like dogs too but unleashed dogs are a nuisance and a danger.
We will be purchasing several commercial properties soon and will be involved in short term rentals and vacation packages. Since quality control is JOB #1 in the resort industry, we will be undertaking all activities we can employ to raise the bar on standards, and dogs on the beach are not viewed as quality.
The attack at the park took place next to the children's play area. Suppose a child had popped into the midst of my fighting off two large untethered dogs while protecting my mate? A child could have been hurt, disfigured or even killed. Should some preventable unfortunate occurrence with dogs befall your community, will the subsequent bad P.R. and lawsuits improve your business or enhance your reputation?

The main reason there are so few documented reports of dog misconduct on the isles is because folk on holiday want no police or paperwork to mar any further their day or any of the future hassles such action would conjure up. I haven't reported several events for fear of retaliation by the dog owners, one of which made threatening gestures for complaining about his dog. Irresponsible dog owners make excuses like "the dog needs to run" and " he's just being territorial', "perhaps you should learn to understand dogs behavior" as if somehow our being charged at in a public place by his dog is my fault", etc.

My skill set includes duties as a journalist and in order to gain data my identity must remain unknown. I provide vetted data for media outlets, writers etc. You might be interested to know that there is quite a large under current of distaste for dogs in public places. The world at large has been waking up to the fact that dogs are an environmental disaster and dog-owners the major problem. It is not just this family complaining. Articles about this topic are popping up around the country.

Two last questions for town elders!

"HOW MANY ENDANGERED SPECIES CAN A LOOSE DOG DESTROY IN AN HOUR?"
"How much effort by wildlife volunteers and restorative capital($) invested in the environment is wasted if even one rare animal is destroyed by a loose dog?"
Answer 2nd question in terms of man-hours wasted and squandered public or private environmental restoration $, please.

Some of our favorite personal canine friends are well trained Pit Bulls, Rottweilers, Poodles and a few mutts as well. These dogs are very well trained and therefore MORE TRUSTY THAN NOT, not like most dogs we've met in your community.
GOOD TRAINING = GOOD LOVE !!!!!
Since you cannot guarantee (dog-owner moral content) you could demand mandatory dog obedience training and have dog owners provide proof of such in public if asked.
We hoped these were isolated incidents but it turns out that plenty of people are having negative interactions with dogs and their owners on Sarasota county beaches and parks. As a recently transplanted business person investing my future in your area, I thought you'd want to know that this issue is on the radar!! Mind you we've only been monitoring this issue since 2005.

How about a mandatory leashing law with a "25 yard stand off rule". That is; your dog may not be allowed to approach humans or their animal companions at parks, beaches or on the streets within 25 yards.
We do not endorse a stand off rule as some dogs will get loose. A stand off rule as a talking point may be employed to temporarily placate unruly dog owners while broader and stricter dog control by-laws are considered and enacted. Without protection from dogs by virtue of by-laws, will my partner and I be forced to carry self defense tools on the beach and at parks?

If it is a living creature we love it, but we are,
REPEATEDLY ACCOSTED BY DOGS