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My Dog Teaches … About Parks, Poop and Litter
 As a society, it seems we are fixated on handling our problems
with punitive measures only. The difficulty with this approach
is that we often end up penalizing everyone, not just those few
who are creating the trouble in the first place.
If we don’t clearly define the problem we want to solve and
don’t tackle it head on, even apparently simply solved problems
can get hugely complicated. Take, for example, the idea of
having dogs in parks. (First of all, when I was growing up, this
was never even considered to be a problem; along with the kids,
there were always plenty of dogs running around in our parks.)
The park used to be a place where families could escape to enjoy
the natural environment and they would naturally bring their
pets along with them for some unrestrained playtime. Yet today,
it is becoming the norm for municipalities to restrict dogs. It
hasn’t quite got to the point where it is commonplace for them
to place an outright ban on dogs in parks (though this has
happened in a few areas), but it is now very common to find that
dogs cannot be let off leash. Enforcement isn’t restricted to
busy parks; it is often applied against those who let their dogs
run free in sparsely used areas. It is also used against those
dog owners who have friendly dogs perfectly under control and
who are not in any way infringing on others in the parks.
Of course, there are people who are afraid of dogs or who simply
don’t care to be around them and it is for them that these
restrictions are brought in. But there are easy solutions to
accommodate both these people and dog owners… create leash-free
areas within existing parks and/or create separate dog parks.
Voila!
Not so fast. That is much too easy. It seems that logic doesn’t
trump emotion when we can have a good old-fashioned acrimonious
catfight. Suggest designating an area for dogs in an existing
park and watch the fur fly. Even a proposal to convert unused
land for the purpose seems to bring out the most vehement
detractors.
Objections to dogs being in parks generally come down to a
couple of factors: 1) that they are likely to go around biting
kids and other people and 2) that they will foul the parks with
dog poop.
With regard to the first point: sufficiently exercised,
unrestrained dogs in neutral territory such as a park are not a
danger worth worrying about. Period. For those who don’t believe
me and would still be too nervous in such a situation, sections
of the park can be fenced off. (Though from my perspective, this
is more important for keeping dogs such as beagles, who tend to
follow a scent, from wandering off than it is to protect people
from dog bites – those inside the fence with the dogs are
certainly not concerned about being bitten.)
I will concede that the second issue with dog feces can be a
problem that does need to be dealt with, especially as our parks
become more and more crowded. I consider myself to be among the
vast majority of dog owners who find it objectionable that a few
owners aren’t responsible enough to pick up after their pets.
Although it’s not the worst thing in the world, it is certainly
an annoyance to step in dog poop and it does take away some of
the enjoyment of coming to the park.
As allowing a dog some time to exercise off leash is actually a
sign of a responsible dog owner, I would much rather see
enforcement directed at this second problem. Fine those who
don’t pick up after their pets. Better yet, give them an option
of paying a fine or spending fifteen minutes picking up other
dog poop in the area. After all, the fine will do nothing to
clean up the parks and doesn’t even guarantee that the person
fined will remove the poop for which he is being fined.
We could extend this idea to littering, which is certainly a
comparable problem to dog waste in our parks. Those who foul the
environment with their waste could be given the opportunity to
help clean up the litter in the park (or help pay someone else
to clean it up by a fine.) Approached this way, I’m sure we
would soon have very clean parks.
Our parks need cleaning up? Let’s confront the problem
directly and clean them up … and in the process, why not enlist
those few who are contributing to the problem to be part of the
solution.
Previous "Petitorial"
articles by David McKague:
Editor’s note:
I would like to encourage dog lovers everywhere
to start a PETITION to have this law thrown out or revised to such
a form where justice prevails. SFR.
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