Friendly, Responsible Dog Owner in Kensington

 From a Kensington, Brooklyn blog:

Posting for a neighbor: On Sunday a neighbor spotted a male about 5'9- 5'10 with black rimmed glasses walking two black and white pugs. The man allowed his dog to defecate on my neighbors sidewalk. My neighbor asked the man to "curb his dog" because they don't want to track remnants of what does not get picked up into their house. On Monday morning my neighbor woke up to find a green bag of dog shit (same bag used by this guy) under the handle of his car and feces smeared on his windshield and steps.. If anyone knows this disgusting passive aggressive jerk feel free to let him know NYPD has been notified.

Plumb Beach 8-23-15

Plumb Beach is either part of Gateway National Recreation Area or it isn't.  There are no other choices.  If it is, then dogs must be leashed by federal law, if they are allowed at all this time of year. If it isn't, then, then they must be leashed by New York City law, unless Plumb Beach is a "designated area' of a New York City park (it isn't), AND it's before 9 A.M.  These pictures were taken at about 9;15, about when I counted at least 15 dogs on the beach, all but three of them unleashed.  The owners were just arriving.

More on One Free Bite Rule

The other day we blogged that the Court of Appeals had once again affirmed New York's "one free bite" rule.  Amid news reports that the Legislature is considering various dog legislation, including one bill that would allow dogs in outdoor areas of restaurants, we checked to see if any pending legislation would overturn this foolish rule. S02494, introduced last January would do so partially, making dog owners strictly liable for medical expenses resulting from a dog bite.  The legislation is currently stuck in the Judiciary Committee.  Other bills would increase penalties on owners who "negligently" allowed a dog to bite another person.  What is needed is legislation that specifically says, if your dog is off-leash and that is not allowed, you are strictly liable for any injury that dog causes, not only medical expenses.

Rockefeller State Park Preserve

Signs say that all dogs must be leashed.   In about 3 hours at Rockefeller Preserve today we saw four that weren't, including one swimming in Swan Lake as the owner stood by.

NY High Court Holds Bicyclist Can't Sue Dog Owner for Injuries

The New York Court of Appeals, New York's highest court, has ruled that a bicyclist injured by a dog crossing his path in Central Park has no right of action against the dog owner.  This is true even though the dog had no business in the roadway.  The cases are Doer v. Goldsmith and Dobinski v. Lockhart.

Here is the link to the full decision, including concurrences and dissents.  http://courts.state.ny.us/ctapps/Decisions/2015/Jun15/17-66mem15-Decision.pdf  The problem is that New York follows the rule that there's no claim against the dog owner for injuries the dog causes unless the dog has been shown to have "vicious propensities", meaning it's bitten someone before.  This decision cites case law holding that the owner's violation of the local leash law makes no difference--which is different from the usual rule, that if you injure someone in the process of breaking the law (speeding, for example), that's negligence per se.  What someone needs to do is get the state legislature to overturn this rule legislatively.  Particularly with the clowns we have in charge in Albany, that's not going to happen any time soon unless one of them, or their family members (or wealthy contributors), gets bitten during dog hours.  Until then, the best advice is to stay away from New York City parks during that time or anywhere near it.

Unleashed Dog Bites Walker on Forest Park Bridle Path

April 10, according to an April 16, 2015 letter to the editor in the Queens Chronicle.  But the dog didn't belong on the bridle path at all, leashed or unleashed.  Even FIDO knows that.

The applicable regulation is buried here and no, the "Commissioner" hasn't permitted leashed dogs to be on bridle paths.

This letter absolutely must be the tip of the iceberg.

Unleashed Dog Knocks Over 65-year-old Woman in Prospect

 Writer's name deleted

Subject: Off-leash dog incident--for Sue Donoghue

Date: February 24, 2015 10:13:16 AM EST

To: info@prospectpark.org

Dear Ms. Donoghue:

A birder friend suggested I write to you, plus I spoke to a member of your staff yesterday  by phone.

I am 65 years old, a Prospect Park Alliance member, a long-time park user, park volunteer, avid birder and affiliate of the Brooklyn Bird Club.

On Sunday I was on the terrace bridge, birding, when three medium-sized dogs, off leash, began rough housing with each other. When one of the dogs left, the other two continued to rough house. I was at the edge of the bridge, when they first bumped into me. When I decided to walk to the bird feeders, they continued to rough house. I tried to avoid them by standing way to the other side of the bridge. Although they had the entire bridge on which to play, they inexorably moved towards me and banged into my legs, this time causing me to fall and bang my hip. I am sure you are aware how dangerous a hip injury is, especially for older people.

I yelled to the owners who were all the way down at the other end of the bridge, not paying attention to their dogs. The man came over and helped me up and apologized. I was very upset and scared and continued to yell at him, since his apology and desire to help meant nothing after the fact. The fact was that this incident would not have occurred had he been obeying the rules of the park and had had both dogs on leashes.

At that point, he did put the dogs on the leash, and when I spotted them later, they were still on the leashes. As for me, I came home with a three-inch-long bruise on my hip, which continues to grow, and a sore body.

When I left the park, I spotted two park security guards in a car by the lake and reported the incident.

A birder I met told me to contact you directly because the off-leash dogs have been a big problem in the park for years. He told me that the park has a reputation among the international birding community for being a prime birding spot but also one with a serious dog problem. And this is not the first time I have been accosted by off-leash dogs in the park. Many years ago, I was accosted by an off-leash German shepherd on Lookout Hill. I may also point out that I have never been harrassed by off-leash dogs in Central Park!!

The off-leash dog issue has to be taken more seriously than it seemingly is. Off-leash dogs not only hurt birds and other animals, they can harm the very people who visit and support the park. The park administration has gone out of its way to provide all kinds of "fun" attractions for its visitors: Lakeside, ball fields, wedding venues, food festivals, concerts and barbecue grills. But they also have to provide basic security, not just the fun stuff. Otherwise, people will continue to get hurt in the park they love.

Thank you for your consideration.

Dog Bite Claims Rising; What About Off-Leash?

According to this report in Crain's New York Business, "Dog-bite claims for U.S. insurers climbed 5.5% last year to 17,359, breaking the record from 2003, as New York had the costliest attacks among states with the most incidents."  Now, the article doesn't say that claims in New York itself had increased, and says nothing about New York City.  But given the increasing unleashing of dogs nationwide, one wonders how this squares with off-leashers' claims that their pet cause reduce incidents of dog bites.

Forest Hills Dogs

Inconsiderate dog owners hijack another park, this in Forest Hills, Queens.

Dog Bidet

Washing a dog in a Central Park drinking fountain.

NY Times--Dog/Bird Issue in Prospect Park

From today's Times:

But this time of year, between the throngs trying to glimpse the prothonotary warblers, the yellow-bellied flycatchers and other migrants making their way up the coast, and the Brooklynites trying to give their corgis and springer spaniels a few moments of freedom and fresh air, it has been difficult to find a middle ground.

The conflict, at its root, is about basic animal nature: Dogs distress birds and can trample the delicate underbrush where birds feed and nest. Bird watchers say they have been answered with exclamations of “Nazi!,” “creep!,” R-rated curses and, occasionally, “I’m going to kill you,” when asking dog owners to respect the laws, which permit untethered animals in three meadows only after 9 p.m. and before 9 a.m.

 . . .

 The Parks Enforcement Patrol has responded with two plainclothes operations this year, said Meghan Lalor, a spokeswoman for the parks department. So far this year, the department has issued 141 dog-related summonses in Prospect Park, including for unleashed dogs, compared with 171 in all of 2013 and 59 the year before.

Read the rest here:  http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/05/05/in-prospect-park-dog-owners-and-bird-watchers-fight-for-space/?hp

We have seen statistics like that before. 141 in 4 months? Whom are they kidding? Give me some PEP agents and I could issue that many in a day

Dog As Deadly Weapon

Mr. Austin, 23, was arrested on charges of menacing, assault, attempted assault and criminal possession of a weapon. “Namely,” the indictment reads, “a pit bull dog.”

The case, from August 2012, is a rare example of a New Yorker’s being arrested on a weapons possession charge, a misdemeanor, for a dog. 

Courts around the country have long grappled with the question of canine weaponization. Over the years, judges have mostly arrived at the same conclusion: if you use Fido as a weapon, he becomes one. 

Read the rest here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/07/nyregion/in-brooklyn-weapons-possession-case-the-dangerous-objects-were-dogs.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Green-Wood Cemetery Dog; Dead Plover

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From Maine Audubon

On Monday, July 15, our biologists received concerning news. The Scarborough Marsh Audubon Center called the Piping Plover/Least Tern Project office to report that a dead piping plover fledgling (learning to fly) had been delivered to the Center. The citizen who brought in the plover witnessed the bird being attacked by an off-leash dog.

The death of this plover fledgling was particularly devastating as it had been the only chick to hatch from its brood. The parents had chosen a rather challenging spot to nest on Pine Point Beach in Scarborough, where dogs and foot-traffic cause a constant disturbance to the adults’ incubation of their eggs.
 . . . .
We work hard to ask dog owners to please leash their pets in areas where piping plovers are nesting and foraging. The nesting areas are marked with signs and symbolic fencing in the form of stake and twine. Being dog lovers ourselves, we understand that dogs need their exercise, but we also know that it is in a dog’s nature to want to chase anything that moves. It is the dog owner’s responsibility to leash their pet in areas where endangered piping plovers make their nests.

 The incident on July 15 demonstrates that dogs are a very real threat to wildlife. We remind all beach-goers that piping plovers are an endangered species in Maine and protected by Endangered Species Act. The death of a bird can warrant a federal and state investigation. When situations such as this occur, we rely on witnesses to gather all available information so that we can prevent other violations in the future.

 . . .
Read the rest here.

Swimming Dog of Prospect

Dog swims away from family while chasing birds in Prospect Park

http://youtu.be/Qr0BIO8aRlY

Hat-tip to Winston Smith

Unleashed Dogs in Prospect Park

The pictures, all from last Saturday, speak for themselves. The guy who took them also filed them with 311.

Pit Bull Attack in SI Playground

Three unleashed pit bulls in a Staten Island playground = one bitten girl and one dead dog.

The item fails to note that dogs are not allowed in city playgrounds, leashed or leashed.

Green--Wood Cemetery; Delury Park Follow-Up

 Pets, other than service animals, are not permitted on Green-Wood Cemetery grounds--unleashed or leashed, even in cars.  There are signs to that effect at all of Green-Wood's entrances, and guards are supposed to enforce the rule.  That did not stop these two inconsiderate cretins from, evidently, sneaking their dogs in by car and then brazenly unleashing them by the Crescent Water. When we left the area, GWC security was chasing one of their cars. Security did catch up with a third visitor who had come with a Scottish terrier in an SUV.

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The community board has voted to ban dogs from Delury Park.  Whether that happens is now up to the DPR.

Hat-tip to Christina.

Prospect Park; Delury Square Park; Pit Bull Attacks Baby Seal

On Tuesday afternoon around 3 P.M. I was about to head up the stairs from behind the music pavilion.  In front of me heading up the stairs were four young black women.  Heading down the stairs was a young white guy with two small, friendly, unleashed dogs.  One of them tried to climb the legs of one of the women, who was pretty clearly terrified.  The owner did nothing.  The other dog headed to me.  Having no desire for dirty pants I yelled at the dog, who backed off.  The dogs remained unleashed.  There were two other unleashed dogs on the Peninsula Meadow

On Wedneday afternoon around the same time there were three unleashed dogs on the Nethermead, one on Breeze Hill, and two others on the Peninsula Meadow

I encountered several other unleashed dogs, and perhaps a total of three leashed dogs.

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Some downtown Manhattan residents are so disgusted that they would like dogs banned entirely from their local park.  Fat chance.  Hat-tip to Christina.



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And here  is a video of a (leashed) pit bull attacking a baby sea lion.  The dog owner?  Mark Kelly, husband of Gabrielle Giffords

Battle of the Dog Owners; Dogs vs. Kids in Greenpoint

A couple of dog owners battle in Central Park

And here's a story about some dog owners taking over--against the law, of course--some new green space in Brooklyn.

A couple of Fridays ago, in a an hour and a half afternoon walk through Prospect Park, we ran across 11 dogs, five of them leashed.

Unleashed in Cenral Park; San Francisco

Here are just three of the several (illegally) unleashed dogs we encountered this morning, beginning at 10 A.M., in Central Park.  Winston, I'd say you have a point, but from what I hear Prospect Park is even worse at those hours.

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Here is the latest in the saga of Charlie, the  pitbull who (or that) attacked and injured a police horse in an off-leash area in San Francisco.  Over the vociferous objection of "dog lovers", Charlie has been condemned to death, and the City attorney has now rejected Charlie's owner's feeble attempt at a compromise.

Here, here, here , and here are prior articles.  Notice how many people signed the petition to save this dog.