Unleashed Dogs Injure Prospect Park Horses, Riders

From today's New York Times, “For Riders and Mounts, Rough Going in Prospect Park”:

Dogs, which can run around off-leash during the mornings, have chased the horses, causing injuries to both horses and riders.

Again, let us play “how many things can you find wrong in this picture?” From the DOPR’s new leash regulations, Section 1-04(i)(2) of Title 56 of the Rules of the City of New York, as amended, http://24.97.137.100/nyc/RCNY/entered.htm:

Unless specifically prohibited herein or by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene ("DOHMH"), properly licensed dogs wearing a license tag and vaccinated against rabies pursuant to the laws of the State of New York and City of New York may be unleashed within a designated park or designated portions of a park between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. under the following conditions: (i) such dogs shall, except for being unleashed, be kept under the control of their owner and shall not at any time harass or injure any park patron and/or, harass, injure, damage, sever, mutilate, or kill any animal, tree, planting, flower, shrub or other vegetation; (ii) such dogs shall not at any time enter any playground, zoo, swimming pool and swimming pool facility, bathing area and adjacent bathing beach (unless otherwise permitted by the Commissioner and not during the designated bathing season), bridle path (unless leashed dogs are permitted therein by the Commissioner), fountain, ballfield, basketball court, handball court, tennis court, or other area prohibited by the Commissioner;

[Italics added.] And this, Section 1-04(i)(1) of the same rules:

Properly licensed dogs, wearing a license tag and vaccinated against rabies pursuant to the laws of the State of New York and City of New York and restrained by a leash or other restraint not exceeding six feet in length, may be brought into a park, except in no event shall dogs or other animals be allowed to enter any playground, zoo, swimming pool and swimming pool facility, bathing area and adjacent bathing beach (unless otherwise permitted by the Commissioner and not during the designated bathing season), bridle path (unless leashed dogs are permitted therein by the Commissioner), fountain, ballfield, basketball court, handball court, tennis court, or other area prohibited by the Commissioner.

So,

1. Dogs—leashed or unleashed—may NEVER be on bridle paths unless leashed dogs are permitted by the Parks Commissioner to be there—and they haven’t been;
2. Even if they were permitted on bridle paths generally—and they aren’t—unleashed dogs may still be only in “designated areas”, which in Prospect Park are the Nethermead, Long Meadow and Peninsula Meadow; the bridle path isn’t in any of these places;
3. Again, even if they were permitted to be in the bridle paths, they must be under the “control” of their owners, and dogs chasing horses pretty plainly are not;
4. No matter what, the dogs are not permitted to “harass or injure any park patron and/or, harass, injure, damage, sever, mutilate, or kill any animal”, and they clearly are doing both.

Why aren’t the police and PEP enforcing what’s left of the leash law and keeping unleashed dogs off the bridle paths? Where were the riders of Prospect Park when this amendment to the leash law was proposed? Why haven’t they gone public with their stories? And why can’t a reporter for the New York Times tell the full story, instead of blandly saying that dogs “can run around off-leash during the mornings”? (Maybe “can” doesn’t mean “may”; as we have documented the dogs “can” run around loose any time they or their owners choose.)

This is not the first we’ve heard about horses being injured by loose dogs. More in a future post.