The Scouting Group Waterland has had enough of stray dogs on their property. Last Saturday, an 8-year-old child was bitten on the leg by an aggressive dog. “The sheets were hanging there,” says co-founder Florinda de Baat, who is still impressed by the incident. She is angry, because this is already the third serious incident involving dogs running loose where this is not allowed at all.
“I’ve had it now,” grumbles Florinda’s father, Kees de Baat, in the clubhouse. He is the chairman of the scouting group. “It is the third time that something bad has happened. We will have consultations soon.”
The scouting is located in the Hemmeland recreational area near Monnickendam. Kees: “There are special walking areas in the Hemmeland, but people do not adhere to them. Dogs are not allowed on this stretch until November, and after November they are, but on a leash. But if you are here on a Saturday, it often happens that dogs run loose here. Owners sometimes laugh at us: ‘I have nothing to do with that, they don’t enforce it anyway,’ they say.”
“He was bitten on the leg, it looked like he had fallen very badly. The skins were hanging there.”
The first incident was in 2016, says Florinda. A dog walked up while the children were sitting around a campfire and was eating what was there. “When we tried to send him away, the owner arrived. Well, she said words that I won’t repeat now, she was that rude.” There was no scuffle, but the children were upset.
The second incident was during the corona period when Sinterklaas came by. “Children were allowed to show their talent to Sinterklaas. And then a dog also came, in this case a young child of the beavers. It attacked the girl, near her back and buttocks.”
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So last Saturday it happened again. “The child who was bitten on Saturday screamed in pain. He had been bitten on the leg, it looked as if he had fallen very badly. The skins were hanging there. At the time there were about fifteen children present. I was also there I was very shocked, devastated. And then you just have to keep an eye on those children.”
Fortunately, the boy is doing well under the circumstances. “I went to the supermarket that same day,” says Florinda. “For a nice big box of chocolates and a balloon. He was cheerful and happy again, thank goodness.” The boy’s parents are considering filing a report against the dog’s owner or owners. They are also considering holding the municipality liable.
Powerless
Florinda described her experiences Facebook and received a lot of support from people complaining about the loose dogs. “These signs have been regularly ignored for years,” someone wrote. Another: “The entire Hemmeland is claimed as an off-leash area.”
Both father and daughter hope that a solution will be found soon, but will that actually happen? The municipality has been warned about this several times, but so far without results. Kees: “It just doesn’t get resolved. One refers to the other.” He feels a bit powerless: “We are really not against dogs, but they are not allowed to walk here. We cannot stand outside with a whip, because then you will end up in war here.”
The municipality of Waterland could not be reached for a response today.
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