The Governor's Dog

http://www.nypost.com/seven/07172009/news/regionalnews/even_daves_dog_is_sic_of_albany_179710.htm

Prospect Park Weekend Report

Friday 8-8:45 A.M., in a circuit around Long Meadow, we saw 6 illegally unleashed dogs outside the perimeter sidewalk.

On Saturday between about 1:30 and 3 P.M., we saw at least 9 unleashed dogs. One was on the Peninsula Meadow, at least two were running around the Nethermead, at least four were at the dog beach (which even the hypocrites at FIDO say is off-limits to unleashed dogs outside dog hours, and the others were on various pedestrian paths. We didn't get to the Long Meadow. No police or PEP agents were in sight.

Scofflaws in Tampa-St, Pete; Another Park Census

From today's St. Petersburg Times:

As a longtime volunteer at Honeymoon Island State Park, please allow me to respond to Ken Mayeaux's letter written after he was cited for violating the animal leash regulations at the park. He asks if a DEP officer doesn't have "something more important to do," and writes that the officer should issue tickets to those causing harm to the environment. Well, Mr. Mayeaux, that's exactly what the officer was doing.

Honeymoon Island had 1.2 million visitors in the last year. Thousands of those guests also brought their canine friends — a privilege not afforded at most beaches. Due to critical nesting bird habitats, defecation and uncontrolled vicious animals, the hand-held leash law is a necessity.

For several years, violators had been receiving verbal warnings. But, as often happens, the actions of a few cause stricter enforcement. Pet Beach, in particular, where Mr. Mayeaux received his citation, has numerous colonies of terns and plovers that are in peril due to the problem of loose dogs running rampant over their nesting areas.

My dogs are always on leash, not only to abide by the law and protect the habitat, but also due to the potentially dangerous marine life in Hurricane Pass and the occasional rattlesnake in the dunes.

We see it every day at the park: A few people feel that these regulations do not apply to them. I'm sorry to hear about the $75 fine, Mr. Mayeaux, but hopefully it will be a deterrent to others.

It is imperative that dogs are controlled in sensitive environmental areas.

Exactly what we've been saying.

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In a circuit of Prospect Park on the perimeter road this morning around 7 A.M. we saw four illegally unleashed dogs. There were very few dogs on Long Meadow. Of 114 pedestrians encountered in the circuit, 67 were non-white.

The Unanswered Question; Leashed and Unleashed

Last week the New York Times had Sarah Grimké Aucoin,the director of the Urban Park Rangers answering readers' questions on the Times' City Room blog. Some of the posted questions were silly, but the following two were not:

Do you approve of the rules allowing dogs to be off-leash in “designated areas” of NYC’s parks? And what effects do unleashed dogs have on wildlife in the parks?

How should children, 2 to 5 years old, be taught to act when they wander off in a park and encounter an aggressive unleashed dog?

Should the child be taught to run, stand still, cry out, smack the dog, or what?

What should park users be concerned with more: An unleashed dog attacking a child, or an unleashed dog killing a goose?

Should there be any unleashed dogs in any park at any time? Are unleashed dogs safe?

Ms. Aucoin didn't answer either one. We'd guess is that it's because true answers would have gotten her fired.

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From a west-coast pro-leash discussion group:

I met up with a older friend on the street. He pointed to his Fox Terier and it had a shaved area on it's rear leg. Turns out he was walking past his friend house and their German Shepard was out front off leash and charged and bit and threw it up in the air before being helped. He took his Dog to the Vets and got a $700.00 bill. When he called his friend wife and tried to to tell them about the bill she hung up on him. He called the husband and he did the same. He went to his Job and made him pay the Bill. Now they will not talk to him. They used to care for each others pets when they went on Vacation. They even had keys to each other houses which my friend has returned. Why do people think they have the right to have their Dog off leash even when its the law.

A response:

Many if not most pet owners regard their pets as their children and take the attitude that the world revolves around them. It is this selfish, myopic, anti-spiritual attitude that is at the root of this and almost all other problems.

Leash Law and Chinese Dogs; Unleashed Pit Bulls

From Monday's San Francisco Chronicle:

William Foreman of the Associated Press has reported on the Chinese government's campaign against dogs. In Guangzhou, one of the richest provinces in China (it used to be called Canton and is located real near Hong Kong, for those of you using the old atlases), the authorities have decreed that every household is limited to one dog, even those households that already have more than one dog.

. . . .

I can only imagine what would have happened if such an edict had gone out from the rulers of the province of California. Heck, a few years ago I wrote a column supporting a leash law for a park in the Presidio. Oh God, were people mad. Apparently the Constitution granted them the right to let their dogs run free, and if they leaped on small children or knocked over adult humans or even defecated in the ice plants, is that not the price we are all willing to pay for sharing the Earth with these magnificent creatures?

Read the whole thing.

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And here's an NY1 story on unleashed pit bulls attacking leashed dogs.

The Mayor's Dogs

According to this article in the Daily News, Mayor Bloomberg's dog walker regularly takes them to the Central Park Great Lawn. Nearly all of the Great Lawn is a no-dog area even if the dog's on-leash. We wonder if the dog walker knows the difference, or cares.

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In the Times, another inconsiderate owner's out-of-control unleashed dog bothering a leashed dog.

Why PEP Summonses Statistics are Skewed

Look in our sidebar for the PEP summons statistics, and you'll see lots in Manhattan. A New York Post article hints why--Battery Park City pays for 34 PEP, and apparently instructs them to write summonses. The article says that all Brooklyn has 23 PEP agents, but as we posted the other day, a PEP officer told us there were only 8, so we suspect that the other 15 are assigned to some other quasi-private enclave.