WARNING to all the dog owners who use the W. Seattle High School side yard to exercise their dogs.
Like every other day for the past 2 years, last Saturday we walked our dog, on her leash, to the school yard to chase the ball and get her
exercise for the day - something we all look forward to! As we were leaving, an animal control officer, with nothing better to do, pulled up and proceeded to write us a $52 ticket - no warning, just a ticket. The ticket states, "Dog running at large!" Help me understand how a dog is "running at large" when she walks to and from the school on a leash with her owners, is let off the leash in a fenced area under the supervision of her owners, and has no interest in anything but chasing a ball? I know we are not alone as we have met countless other responsible dog owners doing the exact same thing. The officer indicated that there had not been any complaints from school personnel, only that we were "trespassing". With all the budget cuts that are occurring, we are infuriated by this whole
event and that our tax dollars are being spent on something as trivial as this. We will appeal the ticket which will take up more city employee
time. To our knowledge, the only other area to exercise our dog is at the dog park on 9th and Henderson, which means we have to load baby and dog in the car and drive to an area of town that we don't have any other need to go to. Where is the "green" in that solution? Does anyone know of any other place that responsible dog owners can exercise their pets? How about the school district charging a small monthly fee for neighbors to use this space that otherwise goes unused and freeing up the animal control folks to do something worthwhile?
Sincerely,
Frustrated Belvidere Pet Owner
westseattleblog
West Seattle Blog
West Seattle Blog
