Parks, Dogs and Beaches: Human-Wildlife Conflict and the Politics of Place

Dogs allowed to run free (off-leash) on the beaches of Canada’s Pacific Rim National Park Reserve on the West Coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, are identified as a disturbance to migratory shorebirds, and... [ view full abstract ]

Dogs allowed to run free (off-leash) on the beaches of Canada’s Pacific Rim National Park Reserve on the West Coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, are identified as a disturbance to migratory shorebirds, and have the potential to habituate wolves to regard dogs as objects of prey. Extensive efforts have been made to promote on-leash rules to allow for a balance between the parks’ mandate to preserve ecological integrity and offering a satisfying visitor experience. Efforts to promote on-leash behaviour have been unsuccessful.

This study explores why park visitors appear reluctant to comply with on-leash rules. A content analysis of semi-structured interviews with compliers (dogs on-leash) and non-compliers (dogs off-leash) in the park reveals the beach as a contested space, driven by a strong off-leash social norm and exacerbated by a number of barriers to compliance behaviour. The study is grounded within animal and urban geography, Lefebvre’s (1991) notions of the production of space, and how people socially construct parks and protected area spaces. The research contributes to the literature addressing the changing role of our canine companions in modern society and associated spatial conflict, and provides new insights into compliance behaviour.