Love 'em and leash 'em

Dog park in Washington Square Park, New York City. I was here last week and saw the two dog parks, one very large, this one, for big dogs, and a micro-dog park for tiny dogs. It got me to thinking about school playgrounds in the neighborhood. (Photo from www.purdy.info)

These are the only "large" potential parks around, but they don't have enough use, so therefore negative uses on and around these parks abounds--drug dealing, other disorder, rampant trash, dumping, litter, etc.

If there were small dog runs here, there would be a lot more activity in and around these parks, likely crowding out some of the negative behavior. After all, the best way to crowd out bad behavior is with a lot of good behavior...

However, I find that parents of children in the neighborhood schools don't like the ideas of dogs on the playgrounds as they seem to believe that dogs are major disease vectors. I think if they were, then we'd have millions of sick people around, and we don't seem to.
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From the Chicago Sun-Times, http://www.suntimes.com/output/commentary/cst-edt-edits25.html.

People, people who love their dogs, may be the luckiest people in the world. But presuming it's a smoochy-poochy world for everyone can get them in trouble. Witness the ugly scenes being played out in Washington Square Park on the Gold Coast. Last week, a police officer used pepper spray on an individual whose dog was unleashed and who refused to produce an ID, and later got into an angry confrontation with Ald. Burt Natarus (42nd), who reportedly was sticking up for his constituents.

Police may need to exercise more restraint, but dog owners need to obey the leash laws, no matter how sweet and well-trained they think their pet is. Aside from chronic waste management problems created by unleashed dogs, there is the issue of security -- for canines as well as humans. There's little you can do to prevent a loose dog from getting in your properly leashed dog's face. And what solitary walker has not felt his level of comfort reduced by the appearance of an unleashed dog? For every 99 that won't bite you, there is one that just might.

There are certain patches of America where everyone is happy to let dogs run free. The urban environment is not one of them. Dog owners should feel free to lobby for dog parks. But breaking the leash law is not the best way to garner public support for one.