A Pembrokeshire wildlife reserve manager and officer has said that the majority of dog owners using the county's 16 reserves are not following guidelines and are causing significant problems.

Nathan Walton, Wildlife Trust officer for Pembrokeshire and reserves manager for south west Wales said that the majority of dog walkers do not follow the reserves’ guidelines and that he is involved in confrontations with ‘aggressive’ dog owners on an almost weekly basis. 

“While a decade ago I could say that the majority of [dog walkers] followed guidelines set when on a nature reserve, today the opposite is the case,” he said.

“It is becoming increasingly frustrating as a reserve manager to come into frequent contact with those who show little responsibility for their dog(s) or respect for wildlife and the site’s special conservation interest when visiting a nature reserve.

“Simple tasks like keeping a dog on a lead or picking up, bagging and taking home dog waste are not adhered to. Trees decorated in dog waste bags are sadly becoming an increasingly common sight.”

Mr Walton added that he has some sort of confrontation with a dog owner on an ‘almost weekly’ basis.

“In most cases [this] results in aggressive behaviour on their part,” he said. “I sometimes feel that owners think that they have the ‘right’ to do whatever they wish with their animal.”

He said that although there were some dog walkers who did abide by the trust’s rules, they were in a minority.

“Many owners visiting our sites do not know how to control their dogs or do not have the appropriate training in place to own one in the first place,” he said.

Mr Walton said that the trust required all dogs to be kept on leads.

“This helps to protect ground nesting birds, vulnerable wild mammal populations and prevent any disturbance to grazing animals,” he said.

He added that keeping dogs on leads helped owners to see when they needed to ‘bag it and bin it’. If not removed, dog mess can cause damage to fragile and complex habitats, transmit disease and pathogens and is a health hazard to reserve workers and members of the public.

He said that dogs off lead decrease the number and diversity of wildlife near footpaths and can help spread invasive species, such as New Zealand pygmyweed.

“We require the understanding and respect from all our dog walkers to keep their dogs on leads and follow the country-side code so that we may continue to welcome dogs to our nature reserves,” said Mr Walton.

“Should this not be the case then there may well be a time when we will have to look at banning dogs from our reserves.”