Railway bridge crosses the Don River about 500m north of Pottery Rd.
Late Sunday afternoon a 20 year old man walking his dog (unleashed) along the CNR tracks was hit by a passing freight train north of Pottery Rd. As reported in the paper and TV news, The dog ran onto a bridge crossing the Don River. By the time the man caught up to his dog it was too late to leave the bridge as a train just happened to come by at the wrong time.
Both man and dog survived the incident but the stupidity of the incident just blows my mind. First, this wouldn't have happened if he had been walking his dog with a leash which is required by law. Second, running onto a railroad bridge without first looking for a train is just looking for trouble. Trains go by here all the time on no fixed schedule so you have to be constantly vigilant.
If he had killed himself that he would have received a free nomination for the Darwin Awards.
2 comments:
Donwatcher-while I do support your comments, I always find it interesting how fixated our walking and hiking organizations are about "dogs on leash" and "it's the law".
The UK Ramblers Association, a well organized hiking group that has done amazing things for promoting walking and hiking in the UK, gives guidelines when dogs should be leased, like when they're near livestock and breeding season.
I agree that dogs should be leashed in public parks, but on hiking and park trails?
I could talk for hours about dog walking in Parks. My biggest concern is not one dog in particular but the huge increase in the number of dogs in Toronto over the past 15 years. Put together this creates an overuse of our natural areas, the Don Valley being one of them. One dog running through the understory of a forest does little harm but hundreds of dogs every month will destroy it. A typical example is the Moore Park Ravine. If you've walked through there recently you may have noticed that it is practically barren ground.
Dogs should have a place in parks but what that is going to be I am not sure. City Council dropped this like a hot potato when it came up for debate a couple of months ago. If you really have an opinion go to your local councillor's election debate and ask them their opinion on this. The fur will fly!
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