DOGS AND CARS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 199, 15 April 1932, Page 2

DOGS AND CARS

OBLIGATION OF OWNERS TO LOOK AFTER ANIMALS. In spite of the fact that dog owners.are constantly complaining of the negligent attitude of motorists, when an animal is run over, the owner, as often as not, is more responsible for the accident than is the. driver of the car. . Surprisingly little attention is paid by many people towards their pets when crossing the road. and it is not uncommon to see pedestrians run hurriedly in front of a car, trusting to the dog following on their heels to look after itself (says the Autocar). Owners would do well, when their dogs are- not on the lead, to wait for an appreciable gap in the traffic before crossing the road. Many people take no steps at all, except for an occasional scolding, to irnajs... and vet they„eXr_

pect them, from puppyhood onwards, to follow at heel without leaving the pavement. A dog whose daily exercise is on the street must receive careful training if it is not to be the cause of a great danger to road users. |If |>atience and intelligence are displ.ay.ed, it is not difficult to train a dog not to leave the pavement except when told, to wait on corners for its owner — in short, to behave as a pedestrian should. Dogs soon learn to understand words of command, and if the animal is not frightened hy the use of the whip when young, hut is rewqrded when he hegips to epmply with the instructor's wishes, the training will soon he accomplished. An phedient dog, too, is far happier than its -disobedient hrother. Undouhtedly, on crowded streets it is advisable to keep dogs on the lead, hut if this is done permanently their tempers. are injured. In their own interests people should pay more attention to their pets than they do at present, and, if the dog is not properly trained, vigilahce should never for one moment he relaxed.