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The chairperson of Sarnia’s Bluewater Trails committee is reminding people to keep their dogs leashed.

Tony Barrand said he was recently contacted about someone being attacked by a dog off leash on the Howard Watson Nature Trail and having to visit the emergency room.

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“Most people think their dog is going to be fine, until something happens,” Barrand said.

His wife was also attacked by a dog on the trail several years ago, he said.

“It’s constantly happening,” he said. “It seems like dog owners treat it very lightly until something happens.”

City bylaws require dogs be leashed at all times when not on their owners’ property, and enforcement officers patrol the trail and some parks, including Canatara, Centennial and Germain, said Alan Shaw, Sarnia’s director of planning, building and bylaw enforcement.

“In regard to people with dogs off leash, we do encounter it quite frequently,” he said. “I would say almost on a daily basis.”