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.