Village dogs giving Samoa’s tourism a bad name

Samoa, like other Pacific islands, has a problem with uncontrolled dogs. The Samoa Observer’s Seti Afoa reports that dogs are affecting Samoa’s image as a tourist destination and the government should move to address it.

Athletes looking to come to compete in sporting events in Samoa often ask – what about the dogs?

You know it is a visible feature of our tourism when the question is posed by people who have never been to Samoa, yet,they have heard about Samoa’s dog dilemma.

The revelation from the recent Oceania Gas Lalomanu Half Marathon winner, Andrew Sexton of Auckland, that he was chased by dogs – not once but twice during the race is of concern.

He was so worried about the problem that he arranged for a car to lead him through the villages during the race. But that did not deter the dogs sitting by the side of the road in the early morning to have a go.

Andrew won the race, and he has blogged about it in his race report which will be read by fellow half marathon runners all over the world. Unfortunately, the dog problem will now be on top of the mind of any prospective runner thinking of heading to Samoa, let alone tourists who want to walk about freely, without being approached by dogs.

The issue has improved tremendously in Apia. The SIDS Conference two years ago was the catalyst to clean up the town area of stray dogs.

But the issue is not stray dogs. It is family pets that lay claim to the roadside in our beautiful villages around the country.

On the morning of the race, the villages were in pristine and beautiful display, not so much for our event as many did not know it was even on, but as a matter of pride for our people in their homes and villages.

Every 100 metres along the south eastern coastline is a Kodak moment – but for the dogs on the loose all along the tourist belt of Upolu.

It is not a random problem. It happens every year and every time we have a race around Samoa. Last year, Aussie runner, Patrick Lyden was in the same race at the same spot and probably chased by the same dogs.

Lyden survived the chase. A runner a couple of years ago was not so lucky. A female runner from New Zealand was badly bitten and had to withdraw from the relay.

Another competitor last year in a cycle race was attacked and suffered injuries.

Last year we had a rider in the Tour of Samoa cycle race, who was terrified of dogs, was chased by mutts, from Upolu to Savaii and back again.

It was not at every village, but four dog chases during your tour is four too many and such an unfortunate and unnecessary problem for our tourism when we least need this negative imagery.

This is the fly in the ointment of the beauty that we offer the world. Something needs to be done to make it go away.

Users of our public roads, local or overseas, should not have to deal with the threat of dogs. Pet dogs are cute only to the owners and a pest to the rest of us, especially if they are sitting by the side of the road looking for some action. Local owners find it amazingly funny when someone is being chased by their mutt.

Owners usually laugh at the situation and often do not realise that the dog was in the wrong to attack an innocent person using public access ways. And there lies the problem.

The onus has to be taken to dog owners and make them accountable under the law for injuries that are caused by their lovable pets.

A $10,000 fine for proven dog attacks in public space should go a long way to sorting out the problem. That sounds heavy handed, but I tell you, the image of dogs in our tourism markets costs us even more in revenue.

The heavy fine will never have to be paid because our law abiding citizens will ensure dog attacks will not happen again.

The fear of a $10,000 fine will ensure compliance. It will be a deterrent at least and will make dog owners keep pets away from roads. In the event of a dog attack, the owner will be charged and the fine imposed. The dog too may be destroyed where the law prescribes, but in the main the dog owner is responsible.

It will only happen a couple of times for the country to catch on that the government is serious about sorting out a damaging problem to tourism, its most important revenue stream.

- Samoa Observer