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Reader says No, let’s NOT give up a park to dogs!

Cat on Porch Ridgewood

No, let’s NOT give up a park to dogs! Imagine how well that would turn out! Our parks are for people. They have already been given up to sports diamonds and fields and fences, and when that particular sport isn’t in season, the place is a waste. Speaking of waste, what would be the criterion indicating that such an experiment had failed? Lawsuits from dog bites (inevitable)? Dog litter all over the place (laughably inevitable)? Are we really expecting any follow-up at all from the town for this when we get it for nothing else? People who merely felt intimidated or uncomfortable or allergic regarding the omnipresence of canines would not complain, but probably just stop going to the park. Is that fair? Dog owners are not uniformly respectful of other people and do not consistently keep their dogs in tow. I would hate being sniffed at, run after, leg-humped, and slobbered on or to watch it happen to others, or to have to extricate myself from a long leash–that happens already. Dogs smell, shed, and trail menstrual blood. And bark. Sorry, people, dogs are not people! Some towns may allow this, but plenty forbid dogs in parks. If we changed our ordinance, people from those towns would all come here with their dogs! This is NOT far fetched (to coin a phrase).When a reasonable ordinance is not respected, you don’t rewrite the ordinance–you enforce it. That’s the real answer: give tickets to dog owners outside the dog runs, which they are lucky to have. NO DOGS.