I recently had an unpleasant experience in Centenial Park. On March 29, I was walking through the trail that connects to Hovey Road. A woman and two men with two large dogs were ahead of me. One of the males stayed at the bottom of the dip on the bridge while the rest went to the top of the trail.
As I walked up the hill, the woman crouched by the dogs and got them to sit. They could plainly see me, but when I was about 20 seconds from the top, she released them. The two dogs charged straight at me, growling, and brushed by within a foot of me as they raced down the hill.
When I got to the top, I said thanks for waiting. She responded, saying you should have waited. I told her I didn’t appreciate big dogs running at me and growling. She said don’t come through here. I told her she was one of the people that give dog walkers a bad name and she basically told me to get lost, the male doing the same. I should add here that I am a senior. I would put the woman in her late 40s and the two males in their 20s.
Unfortunately, after this encounter, the group advocating for Centenial Park trails to be on leash for dogs just got another vote.
Vaughan Reeve
Saanichton
