Home › Forums › West Seattle Rants & Raves › Rant: Off-leash Dogs
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October 2, 2013 at 1:45 am #609279
pupsarebestParticipantAs you might surmise from my user-name, I love dogs, so this “rant” is not from someone who generally disdains them.
My peeve here is my fellow dog-owners/lovers who somehow feel laws and rules do not apply to them and their pet(s).
Today at Myrtle Resevoir Park I encountered a very special woman, and her two very special little dogs as I was walking my dog.
How do I know the woman and her dogs are special?
Why, they MUST be—how else to explain the leashless little dogs, left to their own leashless little devices?
(Ms. Special also was accompanied by two grade-school age girls, so her example of “Rules apply to others, not me” was readily apparent to impressionable youngsters—great job, lady.)
Let me be clear:
I know the look of joy and abandon in my own dog’s eyes, when allowed off-leash, to run, play, romp, chase a ball, roll on her back on the warm grass–and she is every bit as dear and special to me as yours are to you.
She and I would love to indulge in the same kind of fun you all were having today at the park.
We differ in that I choose to follow the leash laws that apply to everybody.
EVERYBODY.
October 2, 2013 at 4:02 pm #798211
CaitParticipantThis topic has been discussed over and over – people just aren’t getting it and they won’t get it.
Though I certainly wish they would. Having a dog offleash is just a great way to tell who gives a damn about others and who does not. Personally I find it a handy tool!
October 2, 2013 at 6:44 pm #798212
2 Much WhineParticipantCait, you’re right, this has been discussed ad nauseum.
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But, it started me thinking about how we change the culture around off-leash dogs. When I was a kid it seemed to be no big deal to have a dog off leash and most folks didn’t worry about picking up poop (granted I was a kid and that was in the suburbs and not the city). Over the years attitude has changed and some folks may not be as aware as others that having dogs off-leash is roughly equal to murder. Until recently I had no idea that dropping a little bag of dog poop in a garbage can by the street would cause the uproar that it does. Now I know and don’t do it but it used to be that I didn’t think twice about it – I thought I was doing my doodie (pun intended) just to pick it up. I had absolutely no idea that folks were so protective of their garbage cans – it never crossed my mind.
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Now this has me thinking, am I a bad person and frowned upon by folks in the neighborhood because I choose to occasionally water the planting strip in front of my house to keep it green? Everyone else lets theirs go brown. Do they look at me with disgust and gossip on a blog somewhere while I water away without a clue?
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As a kid I clearly remember TV commercials that showed a tearful Indian gazing upon a trash strewn country. It slowly helped changed our perception of litter across a country. Maybe it’s time for a series of Public Service Announcements letting people know that it’s not OK to walk dogs off-leash in the city.
October 2, 2013 at 9:45 pm #798213
JoBParticipanti would love to see a series of public service announcements on off leash dogs
it is annoying..
but it is also dangerous to those of us who try to walk our dogs on leash in city parks…
Most dogs on leash do not react well to off leash dogs..
October 3, 2013 at 2:34 pm #798214
2 Much WhineParticipantWow! There was a time when this subject would have had 100 comments in a day. I guess it’s old news and everyone has already had their opportunity to vent.
October 3, 2013 at 3:47 pm #798215
sbreParticipant2 Much~I’ll add another to your count towards 100:
Those who bike, run or blade along the Harbor Ave trail from north of Spokane to the Salty’s area between 6-6:30am (that’s the time frame when I see her) be on the look-out for an often-sighted loose BLACK lab without any lights or reflectors, and the 60+-(?) year old woman who almost always wears a dark-purple rain jacket carrying a lease that is NOT attached to the dog.
This has been going on for a couple of years now, most mornings all year long, and there used to be an identical twin lab with them that I haven’t seen in a while.
They are both hard to see in the darkness that makes up most of that trail, and it concerns me how much lab-poop has not/is not getting picked up along there.
She’s certainly not helping out our public open-spaces.
October 3, 2013 at 4:54 pm #798216
datamuseParticipant*shrug* I’ve given up. These days I run on arterials (for SOME reason, people seem less inclined to let their pets run around loose on traffic-heavy streets) and carry pepper spray.
October 3, 2013 at 5:30 pm #798217
JoBParticipantdatamuse..
walking the dogs on arterials is not one of my options
nor is walking them in our local park since it seems that local homeowners have decided the park is an acceptable place for their dogs to play..
they aren’t even in the vicinity with a leash :(
October 4, 2013 at 2:33 pm #798218
localmanParticipantBeing considered: 2 additional W. Seattle animal control officers who’s purpose would be at least in part to ticket your special person and others who choose to duck responsibility. Yes to soda tax.
and here: http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/mayor-mcginn-proposes-soda-tax-seattle/nZ9Tk/
October 4, 2013 at 3:36 pm #798219
sbreParticipantI’m glad to report that the black lab and purple-jacketed lady were tethered together this morning.
And she was thanked for it!!!
October 6, 2013 at 12:04 am #798220
Genesee HillParticipantOctober 6, 2013 at 6:36 am #798221
SonomaParticipantWhat really infuriates me are those off-leash coyotes. I mean, I love coyotes, but they need to be leashed. People are so inconsiderate. Coyotes might seem cute and friendly, but some are poorly trained and might even attack. Plus, the poop – gross!
October 6, 2013 at 4:33 pm #798222
librarianMemberSonoma, how about those off-leash parrots?
October 6, 2013 at 10:05 pm #798223
SonomaParticipantHa – ya got me, librarian! Of course, they are better-behaved than off-leash seagulls and pigeons.
October 6, 2013 at 10:05 pm #798224
SonomaParticipantHa – ya got me, librarian! Of course, they are better-behaved than off-leash seagulls and pigeons.
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