I agree that the whole bridge/sidewalk/road should be re-engineered, but given the fiscal woes of the city of Del Mar, I don’t think that’s an option for a very long time. I think that the lifeguards should strictly enforce the leash laws at the beach in the summer and ticket those who fail to comply. This would help keep a bad incident from happening and would bring in extra revenue for the city. I think you all are fortunate to have not witnessed a dog on dog attack or a dog on human attack in an area with such a large concentration of dogs at one time. Just two weeks ago in the city I live in, an unleashed dog in violation of the city’s leash law mauled another dog (that was leashed) and caused it to have an over $11,000 vet bill. The owner of that same dog was cited 5 months ago for letting his unleashed dog attack another dog (which subsequently died from the attack). What if a dog like this were to attack a human for no reason? A helpful bystander trying to get the dog off the human might get bit himself/herself.
Why should a beach walker or pedestrian also be inconvenienced by an unleashed dog coming up to him/her in the summer and then trying to figure out what to do? When walking on the bridge, and a dog on a leash starts barking and makes furtive movements towards you, what are you supposed to do when there’s nowhere to escape and the owner does not have the courtesy in the first place to walk the dog to the right of him/her in order to minimize a possible incident in the first place. Thankfully, I have never seen an unleashed dog walking on the sidewalk over the bridge, but there have been incidents where I was walking northbound and had to jump up next to the railing and the owners tell me that their leashed dog doesn’t bite or that the dog won’t hurt me. How am I supposed to know that beforehand? It’s only a natural instinct to try and remove yourself from the situation. If a human, starts veering toward you in an aggressive manner on the bridge, wouldn’t you try to get out of the way? I do nothing to provoke the dog . I’m just minding my own business walking straight ahead wishing I could move way out of the way when I see any dog, regardless of size or breed to be safe.