In work session, town board discusses off-leash hours, dog bite incidents with residents
In the work session
June 27, 2008
by Liza Margulies
With “off-leashing” becoming as familiar a sight across the country as soccer games and little league, sooner or later rules and guidelines for park usage in this manner would need to be established. So it was that a small but devoted group of dog owners were in attendance Wednesday, June 18, night for the town board’s work session discussion regarding the parks and recreation department’s recommendations to regulate dogs in the town’s parks—most notably, Gedney Park.
Originally the board was to vote on this recommendation at this meeting but the suggested changes in the wording of the proposal required that it be sent back to the Parks and Rec department for approval prior to voting. We’ve learned since that at its last meeting the town board set July 8 as the public hearing date That night the board will propose an amendment to the code changing the hours dogs may be allowed off-leash.
The dog folks on hand represented a much larger group of passionate dog owners who, presumably, were home sleeping in order to be up in time for the quotidian morning dog-romp-in-the-park-at-Gedney social hour. Those on hand were in agreement that the proposed wording of the regulation (no dogs off leash after 10 or 10:30am from Sunday to Friday or after 8 am on Saturdays) was actually reasonable and needed only minor tweaking (specifically, whether there could be seasonal adjustments to the regulations, since in winter very few residents other than dog lovers are on the fields during those hours). On that issue there was little need for discussion.
On a separate but related note, however, one dog owner raised concerns about how the new regulations would be enforced. She pointed out that we currently have a situation with a local dog who has launched several serious and unprovoked attacks on both adults and children in Gedney as well as in other New Castle parks and that so far no one has cited this dog, or rather, his owner. It gives one pause to wonder how leash laws will be enforced if extreme behavioral issues haven’t been. One particularly articulate gentleman in attendance was the father of a child attacked by this dog and he too expressed concern that to date, nothing had been done. The owner continues to bring her dog to the town’s parks regularly despite his vicious temperament. A photo of the dog, “Joey,” was passed around and all dog owners murmured in agreement that the problem is out of control and needs immediate attention and intervention. Board members commented that they had just recently been made aware of these troubling incidents of dog violence and that they are now working with the police to see how the situation can best be addressed and resolved. This seemed to satisfy everyone.
It is well worth mentioning that often times discussions pertaining to dogs and dog owner rights quickly break down into polarized, heated venting sessions. It was noteworthy—and commendable—that this discussion between the board and the dog folks was both cooperative and productive. There was a genuine concern about the issues raised, and for all points of view.
Liza Margulies is a psychotherapist and freelance photographer in New Castle.
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