Northern Ireland prides itself on being a friendly place. We’re kings of banter, all about the craic and always willing to give visitors a proper Northern Irish welcome – unless of course that visitor is of the canine variety. For the truth is that Northern Ireland, or at least its councils, the National Trust and businesses, have quietly been waging a war on dogs and dog owners for quite some time now. It’s time it was brought into the open.

Take our beaches as an example. It used to be perfectly fine to take your dog to the beach and allow him/her a little bit of freedom – provided you made sure to clean up any mess! Sure, the dog may wander up to folk or take a sniff at the occasional barbeque but by and large owners were trusted to decide for themselves how best to control their pets. Provided dogs showed no sign of aggression this was OK – but recently councils have taken it upon themselves to severely limit this freedom.

For instance, if you take your dog off the leash on Newcastle promenade, the council will fine you £80 – regardless of whether the dog is well-behaved or not. This fine extends to the grassed areas and even the beach close to the promenade. Newry, Mourne and Down Council calls this “taking pride in your district” – as if somehow my well-behaved and strictly trained Labrador walking to heel is somehow equivalent to my insulting the community.

At Groomsport and Ballyholme beaches it’s fine to let your dog enjoy the beach for some of the year but not between June and August. During these months dogs must be kept on a leash – presumably because the councils believe that those who use the beach all year round should give way to those who come once in a blue moon and leave used barbeque kits all over the beach. Signs proudly proclaim that £24,825 worth of fines have been issued for people breaking this rule in the past year. Presumably most of this is for people not picking up after their dogs – but I have seen individuals being caught and fined for letting their dogs off the lead too. I also know of local residents who avoid the beach altogether during the summer for this reason.

For rate-paying dog owners keen to let their dog chase a ball, run into the sea or just have a proper frolic, this simply isn’t acceptable. A well-behaved dog should be allowed to enjoy the beach in this way but these rigid, catch-all rules prevent that and clearly demonstrate a lack of trust in the majority of dog owners who are more than capable of keeping their dogs under control. Meanwhile councils rake in the dough through fining those owners for using the very facilities their rates pay for.

Meanwhile, not to be outdone, the National Trust has a near universal ban on dogs being allowed off the lead on their properties. At Rowallane Gardens, Mount Stewart and Murlough beach for instance, staff have previously insisted on me placing my dog on the lead – grimacing when I demand to know precisely why these rules exist or what behaviour he has exhibited that necessities such a policy. This is particularly galling when the National Trust expect me to pay for the privilege of walking my dog there – something I have vowed not to do again.

This pattern is repeated across the country and some – such as the Cuilcagh mountain trail where dogs are prohibited altogether – have gone even further. This lack of welcome is echoed across almost all of Northern Ireland’s pubs, cafes and restaurants where dogs and their owners are usually cast outside (even in winter) or not permitted at all. On a recent trip to the North Coast I was unable to locate a single restaurant or cafe that would allow me and my dog to sit down for lunch – and I was unwilling to leave him in the car on a hot day whilst I ate.

For dog owners who live here – and especially those of us who live in the countryside – this is unbearable. The number of places where we can take a dog and let them be truly free, even for a few minutes, is decreasing all the time. I live in the middle of the countryside and yet, unless I am willing to take my dog to the Mournes, there really isn’t much space available to me.

Visitors meanwhile look on in bemusement – especially those who come from Scotland. In the five years in which I lived in that country, I never came across these kinds of restrictions. Indeed, on most of the occasions when I left my dog outside fearing he would not be allowed in, I had bank managers, florists, barbers and restaurant owners urging me to bring him in for a cuddle and a treat. Meanwhile in the great outdoors, dogs were fine to roam as they pleased, provided they didn’t hassle other people or animals. I was trusted, as an adult, to keep control of my own dog in accordance with his training – and he never bothered a soul.

In all of this, perhaps unsurprisingly, we find Northern Ireland to be a little behind the times compared to elsewhere. Yet the 26% of us that own a dog need to find our voice. Our doggos, the vast majority of whom are friendly and well-behaved, offer loyalty, companionship and love – and we must insist on our councils, the National Trust and businesses changing unreasonable rules. That is not to say that owners should be free to take their dogs absolutely everywhere – there’s clearly a balance to be struck. But perhaps it’s time to unleash the debate and find a balance that allows dogs a little more space to roam.

Also published on Medium.