Citizens for Off-Leash Areas) in Seattle simply call theirs OLAs. . . . In Berkeley, “multi-use area” refers to the multiple legitimate uses, including our leashless dogs, that are allowable in sections of the park. In Indianapolis they refer to their recently inaugurated area as a Canine Companion Zone.
Just Don't Call it a Dog Park," Bark 9. Parks are for people. Dog owners are people. Therefore, parks are for dog owners. Off-leash recreational areas in our communities are a way for dog owners and people who do not like dogs to share public open space.
This weekend is the last weekend to enjoy Singing Beach in Manchester-by-the-Sea with dogs until October 2008. Dogs are allowed on Singing Beach from October 1 - April 30.
As a token of our appreciation for access to Singing Beach, dog owners may participate in the Manchester Community Center's city-wide clean-up on Saturday, May 10.
The season for dog owners is also ending at Good Harbor Beach and Wingaersheek Beach in Gloucester.
The best way to keep people from proposing legislation to ban dogs is
Until a person has proven her- or himself dog-friendly by asking to meet my dog, I assume that if I let Strummer approach that person, she or he will introduce anti-dog legislation at the first opportunity. By waiting for people to ask to meet my dog, my experience is that everyone I meet likes my dog!
At the 2008 Annual Town Meeting this evening, the Town of Manchester-by-the-Sea voted to continue to allow families with dogs to enjoy Singing Beach from October 1 through April 30. A motion seeking to ban dogs year round was defeated as were two secondary amendments, one that would have extended the current five-month prohibition of dogs on Singing Beach by two months and another that would have given families with dogs two more weeks to enjoy Singing Beach together. Ain't democracy grand?!
My favorite part of the discussion was when a representative from the Board of Health told the Meeting that the Board of Health cannot recommend that dogs should be disqualified from beaches any more than they are from streets and parks! Feces in sand, he explained, poses no greater public health risk than feces on asphalt, concrete or dirt!
Early in the proceedings of the Town Meeting, a voter introduced a motion to take up Article 30 out of order.
Being a nonresident with no stake in the other articles on the Town Warrant, I wasn't paying close attention. I think the motion to take up article 30 was introduced after article 3. The motion was seconded and prevailed with more than two thirds of the meeting voting for it.
Patricia Morely who petitioned to put the year-round dog ban on the Town Warrant introduced a motion to amend Article X Section 28 (c) 3 of the General By-Laws of the Town of Manchester-by-the-Sea to prohibit dogs on Singing Beach throughout the year
Ms. Morley's motion was seconded, but in the course of her comments on the necessity of banning people with dogs from Singing Beach, she asked if the matter could be placed on the ballot for the Town Election in May. On the advice of the Town Moderator Morley withdraw her original motion and introduced a new motion.
Susan Thorne, Chairwoman of the Board of Selectmen, then introduced a motion to amend the By-Laws to prohibit people from bringing dogs on Singing Beach from April 1 through November 1.
Another resident by the name of Brown introduced another motion to amend the By-Laws to prohibit people from bringing dogs on Singing Beach from May 1 through September 15.
There was relatively little discussion, largely because a motion to end the debate on the matter was carried by a necessary two-thirds vote.
Mr. Brown's amendment, which would have allowed us to enjoy Singing Beach with our dogs from September 16 through April 30 did not prevail.
Ms. Thorne's amendment, which would have abbreviated the time when dogs are allowed on Singing Beach by two months—from November 1 through March 30—did not prevail.
And Ms. Morley's motion did not prevail.
Thank you, Manchester-by-the-Sea, for welcoming people with dogs on Singing Beach.
UPDATE 8 April 2008: Patrick Anderson, reporter for the Gloucester Daily Times, got the vote tallies on the three amendments. For details see "Town Meeting backs keeping dogs on Singing Beach".
The Board-of-Selectmen recommends by a vote of 5-1 that families be banned from enjoying Singing Beach together with our dogs for two more months of the year from April through October. The Gloucester Daily Times is calling the suggested closing of the beach to beach-goers a "compromise".
Susan Thorne, Chairwoman of the Board of Selectmen, believes that by allowing families with dogs to enjoy Singing Beach during the off-season, the town is going out of its way to accommodate nonresidents.
The insularism on the part of Chairwoman Thorne is more hurtful to residents than it is to nonresidents. As a nonresident, I visit Singing Beach about a half-a-dozen times during the off-season. Most people I meet at Singing Beach, however, are Manchester residents. Extending the dog ban will keep Manchester residents off the beach every day.
Chairwoman Thorne's insularism hurts more than families who come from other towns and cities to enjoy Singing Beach; It also hurts the local businesses we patronize when we visit Manchester-by-the-Sea between October and April.
To add insult to injury, Manchester-by-the-Sea wants a piece of money that residents of other cities and towns pay to support our municipal programs and services: Manchester-by-the-Sea supports state revenue sharing, a proposal that would let Manchester-by-the-Sea receive a portion of the property taxes that residents of other cities and towns pay to our local municipalities.
The Board of Selectmen's recommendation to extend the current five-month dog ban at Singing Beach by an additional two months is bad business for Manchester-by-the-Sea.
The Singing Beach Committee opposes a year-round dog ban, and the Vice Chairperson of the Committee says that the Selectmen's amendment does not improve upon the original proposal. The high season at the beach is between Memorial Day and Labor Day. The current rules, which prohibit dogs on Singing Beach from May 1 through September 30, ensure that there is a month before the majority of beach-goers appear and another month after they disappear when the beach is without dogs.
According to an article in the Gloucester Daily Times, the Singing Beach Committee of the Town of Manchester-by-the-Sea voted on Monday not to recommend passage of the article at Town Meeting that would ban dogs year-round at the beach ("Committee pans dog ban at Singing Beach," by Patrick Anderson).
That's the good news. The bad news is that
Town Selectmen last week voted not to issue a recommendation on the article in the printed warrant. They can still vote to offer recommendations before Town Meeting.
The proposed year-round ban on dogs at Singing Beach is unneighborly. The only time that some people visit the beach is during the off-season when we can enjoy the beach together with our dogs. A year-round dog ban would prevent some residents from ever having an opportunity to enjoy Singing Beach.
If you live in Manchester-by-the-Sea or if you know anyone who does, please (have them) contact the Board of Selectmen and ask them to issue a recommendation against the unneighborly proposal on the Town Warrant that would ban dogs year round at Singing Beach. Contact the Board of Selectmen c/o Wayne Melville,Town Administrator, Town Hall, 10 Central Street, Manchester, MA 01944.
UPDATE 17 March 2008: Thanks to Traildogs for posting that the Board of Selectmen met on Monday, March 3 and decided to wait to make a recommendation on the article that would extend the existing summer prohibition of dogs on Singing Beach year round. The Gloucester Daily Times reports that the Board
decided to issue their recommendation on the article the day of Town Meeting because of lingering questions about whether the article needs to reference the town's canine bylaw and to give Thorne a chance to have her say.
Susan Thorne, chairwoman of the Board, was out of town at the time. "Thorne" according to the article, "was one of the residents who signed the petition to place the dog ban on the warrant" ("Selectmen take wait-and-see approach," by Patrick Anderson).
UPDATE 21 March 2008:The 2008 Annual Town Warrant for the Town of Manchester-by-the-Sea is now online on the Town website. The unneighborly article that would ban dogs at Singing Beach is Article 30:
To see if the Town will vote to ban dogs from Singing Beach year round, or take any other action relative thereto.
Per petition of Patricia Morley, et al
I got a Flip Video camera for my birthday!
I had a lot of fun putting together this amateur video of Strummer meeting and greeting and socializing with other dogs at the Off-Leash Recreational Area at Nunziato Field here in Somerville. My analysis of the dogs' behavior reflects my personal observations as an attentive pet owner.
via FellsDOG
My daughter, Kate, will turn one year old in March. She has been to the beach three times since she was born. Each time the beach has been Singing Beach at Manchester-by-the-Sea, and each time Strummer, our standard poodle has been with her.
A resident of Manchester-by-the-Sea is asking her fellow townsfolk to deny my daughter the enjoyment of the beach.
According to an article in the Boston Globe today (creatively titled "Some fear town's beach is going to the dogs"), the Town of Manchester-by-the-Sea will be voting on banning dogs from Singing Beach year round at its annual Town Meeting on April 7. Patricia Morley, a resident of Beach Street and employee of the Town gathered the necessary signatures to introduce the dog ban at Town Meeting.
Currently the Town of Manchester-by-the-Sea allows dogs at Singing Beach from October through April. Especially during the colder months, most people at Singing Beach are accompanied by their dogs. A year-round ban on dogs will deny hundreds of families the opportunity to enjoy the beach together.
UPDATE 12 March 2008: The Singing Beach Committee of the Town of Manchester-by-the-Sea voted on Monday not to recommend passage of the article at Town Meeting. Residents will vote on the proposal to ban dogs year-round at Singing Beach at Manchester's annual Town Meeting, Monday, April 7 at 7:00 p.m. at Manchester Memorial School, 42 Lincoln Street, Manchester, MA 01944 (map)
UPDATE 21 March 2008: The 2008 Annual Town Warrant for the Town of Manchester-by-the-Sea is now online on the Town website. The unneighborly article that would ban dogs at Singing Beach is Article 30:
To see if the Town will vote to ban dogs from Singing Beach year round, or take any other action relative thereto.
Per petition of Patricia Morley, et al
UPDATE 2 April 2008: The Board-of-Selectmen recommends by a vote of 5-1 that families be banned from enjoying Singing Beach together with our dogs for two more months of the year from April through November. The Gloucester Daily Times, is calling the suggested closing of the beach to beach-goers a "compromise".
Come to the community meeting Wednesday, February 20, at 6:30 p.m. at the Tufts Administration Building, 167 Holland Street and help make sure that parks for people and pets are a priority in the City's Open Space and Recreation Plan for the upcoming five years.
When the City conducted a survey in 2002 about the most needed types of open space, eleven (11) respondents selected "dog run" in their top five.1
Today the Nunziato Off-Leash Recreational Area (OLRA) is used by hundreds of residents every week. It is more than just a "dog run," it is a place where people enjoy the benefits of socializing and exercising our dogs off-leash.
The OLRA at Nunziato Field serves many people in addition to those of us who enjoy it with our dogs. Because people have a place where we can play with our dogs off-leash, dogs are kept out of the adjacent field.
Somerville needs more places like the Nunziato off-leash recreational area. Over one-third of households own dogs, and not all of our homes are in walking distance to the Nunziato OLRA.
This year the City is again asking residents what types of open space are most needed in the City. Thousands of us need parks that we can enjoy with our pets. Let's speak up Wednesday evening for more off-leash recreational areas and more parks where we can walk our dogs on leash!
1 Somerville Open Space and Recreation Plan, 2002-2007 (.pdf)
Arlington dog owner and blogger TJIC has some really good advice to those who speak at public meetings:
Tell them what you’re going to tell them, then tell them, then shut up.
For example:
I’m going to speak for 60 seconds. Please cut me off if I go over.< a few claps, and general good cheer >
I’d like to make three points:
1) I heard a lot earlier about how dogs “were not originally part of the plan”. Well, this area has been inhabited for over 400 years. Harvard was founded over 350 years ago. This place used to be a forest, then a farm, then a dump, then a park. Uses change. People change. Opinions change.
2) The master plan did not use the word “dogs”, true. It used the word “recreation”. However, I note that it also did not use the words “soccer balls”, “Frisbee”, or “tricycle”. People recreate in various ways, and dogs are one of those ways.
3) I live about 30 feet from the park, and I think that dogs there are a great idea.
Thank you for your time.
Am I mistaken, or does the Town of Arlington's Green Dog Pilot Program proposal call for creating "off-leash and fenced dog areas" and restricting usage of the areas to the hours between dawn and 9:00 am for eight months of the year?! Does Arlington really want to cordon off public open space and not let anyone in for twenty-one hours of the day in Spring, Summer and Fall?!
If this seems like a crazy idea, Arlington dog owners, please let Town officials know.
The Town of Arlington is holding a public meeting Wednesday evening, November 28, to introduce the proposal for the Green Dog" pilot program and solicit input from users and neighbors of Menotomy Rocks Park. The meeting will be held in the Selectmen’s Meeting Room in Arlington Town Hall beginning at 7:30.
The meeting Wednesday evening is the third of seven meetings intended for users and neighbors of specific parks in Arlington "where there is already dog walking activity":
The "Green Dog" Pilot Program for Arlington, allowing controlled off-leash activity in Arlington, will be refined based on the public input received and will be presented at the next Town Meeting in Spring of '08.
For additional information contact Leslie Mayer at BLMayer@msn.com.
Congratulations Friends of Peters Park on the Grand Opening of the Joe Wex Dog Recreation Space in the South End, Sunday, November 4, 2007.
The Boston Metro ran a story about the grand opening with the clever headline "City unleashes dog park."
Last month, an article in Boston Globe featured architect David Hacin, who designed the off-leash recreational area ("All that's missing are the biscuits").
Have you and your dog visited the Joe Wex Dog Recreation Space? What do you think of the surface?
The City of Cambridge has four officially designated areas were residents, "who have received resident sticker parking permits approved by the Water Board and issued by the Traffic Department" may allow their dogs off-leash in public space.1
To facitate enforcement at Fresh Pond Reservation, the Cambridge Water Department has proposed a pilot “medallion” program, according to an article in the Cambridge Chronicle today ("City puts out-of-town dogs on short leash at Fresh Pond"). In addition to having a resident sticker parking permit and a Cambridge dog license, Cambridge dog owners would also have to obtain a medallion collar tag. The Cambridge City Council must vote to approve the pilot program before it goes into effect.
Non-Cambridge families are welcome to enjoy the Fresh Pond Reservation with their leashed dogs. Leashed dogs and unleashed dogs, however, are a potentially dangerous combination.
Without freedom to negotiate a social encounter, a leashed dog can feel that it has no alternative but to attack an unleashed dog. Take away the opportunity for flight and all that remains is the instinct to fight.
Pace the Cambridge Water Department and the Cambridge City Council Ordinance Committee, but I do not trust Cambridge dog owners to prevent their unleashed pets from running up to defenseless, leashed, out-of town dogs. So I will continue not bringing my Somerville dog to Fresh Pond, which, I understand, is exactly what the Cambridge Water Department wants.
1 See the Cambridge Department of Public Works Frequently Asked Questions: "Where can I allow my dog to run without a leash?"
Tuesday evening, while I was attending a community meeting about the renovation of Perry Park, Somerville blogger C. Scott Ananian was attending a community meeting about a new cafe opening in Union Square by the owners of Davis Square's Diesel Cafe.
I'm glad to see the Friends of Peters Park website is back online.
It appears to have come back on line concurrently with news that the Boston Parks Department will be closing the Dog Recreation Space (DRS) for renovations to Peters Park. At the same time, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation is proposing to suspend off-leash recreational hours on Boston Common for turf restoration. Where will Boston off-leash recreation enthusiasts go when the Boston Common and Peters Park are closed?
In response to an inquiry, I learned that the Friends of Peters Park expect to learn more about the timeline for the renovation of the whole park, including the construction of the new DRS, pending the successful outcome of the DRS Hearing on January 19.
As posted on the Boston Dog Owner Group Forum, there is a community meeting regarding the Boston Common Restoration Plan on January 23.
BostonDOG is holding a Community Meeting tonight about the suspension of Boston Common off-leash hours until 2008. The meeting is at 7:00 p.m. at Hill House, 127 Mt. Vernon St.
The Boston Parks and Recreation Department in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services, Beacon Hill Civic Association and Councilor Michael Ross’s office is meeting with interested groups and organizations to discuss events, the off-leash dog area, and related issues on January 23, 2007, at the Hill House at 7 p.m. For more information, please see the Boston Parks Department's post on the Boston Dog Owners Group Forum.
In an article that ran in the Brookline Tab on November 30, 2006, Correspondent Lara Farrar contributed a story about off-leash hours at Winthrop Park, in which she spoke with people from neighboring communities about successful off-leash recreation programs.
Ward Three Alderman, Thomas Taylor, commented very graciously about the partnership of the City of Somerville and the Somerville Dog Owners Group.
Thomas Taylor is an alderman in Somerville who advocated for the city's first dog park. He said what has made a big difference is the Somerville Dog Owners Group, an independent group that has rallied for off-leash spaces, even raising money to fund the projects.
"If you can create a group, that could make a big difference," he said.
Thanks, Alderman Taylor. Somerville's Ward Three, the only Ward with an Off-Leash Recreational Area, gets my vote as the Best Ward in the City!
The New York Council of Dog Owner Groups (NYCdog) cheers the unanimous vote of the NYC Health Board to amend Section 161.05 of the City Health Code, commonly known at the "Leash Law," granting the NYC Parks Commissioner explicit authority to permit off-leash recreation in the New York City parks at certain locations and at certain times.
The New York Council of Dog Owner Groups applauds the State Supreme Court ruling from Judge Peter J. Kelly on November 30, 2006 denying, in its entirety, the Juniper Park Civic Association’s petition to compel the Parks Department and the City of New York to end the successful 20-year off-leash courtesy hours policy (9 PM until parks close, and when they re-open until 9 am, only in certain designated Park spaces).
In May 2006 the so-called* civic association interpreted existing municipal ordinances to prohibit the Parks Commissioner from designating off-leash courtesy hours in parks without designated off-leash areas. The NYC Health Board votes on Tuesday on new regulations that would clarify the Parks Commissioner's authority to designate off-leash courtesy hours in parks without designated off-leash areas.
*In my humble opinion, there is nothing "civic" about an association that wants to deny the enjoyment of public open space to 40% of their neighbors.
via e-mail
In the years that dogs have been allowed to run free in [New York] city parks, dog bites have decreased 90 percent
according to an op-ed piece in the New York Times today by Jonathan Safran Foer, "My Life as a Dog."
Whether or not the source is reliable is a good question: Foer intimates that his own dog, George, who "occasionally tries to eat [his] son" is one of the culprits keeping the decrease in dog bites in New York City from achieving one hundred percent.
Foer may not be a responsible dog owner, but he does have something worthwhile to say about the place of pet ownership in human communities. Pet ownership, Foer understands, is an inter-species relationship. From his relationship with his dog he has learned that "compromise is necessary to share space with other beings"— a lesson that applies not only in the myriad relationships individuals may have with one another, but also in relationships among groups and organizations of all kinds.
It's well and fine that Foer advocates "sharing our space with other living things," but the the off-leash hours policy in NYC parks is not about humans sharing public open space with dogs: It's about neighbors sharing space with each other; it's about park users sharing space with each other. People who enjoy off-leash recreation live in communities with people who do not like dogs. Public open space must accommodate park users who enjoy off-leash recreation as well as park users who enjoy basketball, frisbee, reading and soccer.
Yes, off-leash recreation is good for dogs. Off-leash recreation provides much needed opportunities for socialization and exercise, and dogs that are well socialized and that get enough exercise are better pets and better neighbors. They are less likely to develop inappropriate and destructive habits like barking, chewing, digging, lunging and jumping-up on people.
Off-leash recreation is good for humans, too. It provides an incentive for people to get out in the fresh air and to meet other people in the community who share similar interests.
Here in Somerville, MA, opportunities for off-leash recreation are provided in designated off-leash recreational areas according to posted rules. We have one OLRA, which opened almost eight months ago—the fully fenced-in OLRA at Nunziato Field. For the time being, one quarter-acre of open space must serve the 27,000+ people who live with dogs in Somerville. In New York City, overuse of the City's 40+ dog parks is mitigated by the Offleash Courtesy Hour policy: In public parks without designated areas for off-leash recreation dogs are allowed off-leash from 9 pm to 9 am.
The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Board of Health votes on December 5, 2006 whether to adopt amendments that will clarify the authority of the Parks Commissioner under the Health Code to allow dogs off the leash in City parks.
Check it out. On ExploreNewEngland.com, our off-leash recreational area at Nunziato Field is the feature attraction for Somerville!
cross-posted on www.somdog.org, the website of the Somerville Dog Owners Group (som|dog)
The Nunziato OLRA will be closed tomorrow, Thursday, June 22, so that the fencing contractor can install the double gate at the Putnam Street entrance and reconfigure the entrance to the OLRA at the tree well on Summer Street. For more information, please contact Carlene Campbell, Community Outreach Director, Office for Strategic Planning and Community Development, City of Somerville: 617-625-6600, ext. 2500; ccampbell at ci.somerville.ma.us.
We will all enjoy safer access at the Putnam Street gate and better access at the tree well when the OLRA reopens on Friday, June 23!
Realtors have begun telling property owners they must make their buildings and apartment rentals more hospitable to the growing number of dog owners,
according to an article about the South End by Cristina Silva in the Boston Globe yesterday ("Lapping up luxuries").
Boston.com also has a slideshow featuring some of the dogs and the dog-friendly amenities of the South End, including the dog park at Peters Park, Tremont 647, which offers a doggie lunch on the patio every Saturday from 2 to 5 p.m., and Polka Dog Bakery.
via Bostondogs
The Nashua Dog Owners Group (Nashua D.O.G.) is working to establish a permanent dog park in the City of Nashua, New Hampshire. Their efforts are described in a very nice article by Andrew Nelson that ran in the Nashua Teleraph on Tuesday, May 23, "Dog group nearly paws-itive park plans will move forward" (registration required).
Nashua D.O.G. has submitted a proposal to their board of aldermen to create a members-only off-leash recreational area on city-owned property, which the group would lease from the City for $1 a year. The group would assume responsibility for the construction of the dog park: the proposed budget for the project, according to the article, is $75,000. The group would also assume responsibility for maintenance of the area. Access to the area would be restricted to registered members who would be issued a passkey to enter the area. A passkey system is in use at the Overlook Dog Park in Manheim Township, in Pennsylvania.
Currently, Nashua D.O.G. sponsors a weekly off-leash play group on private property. Dogs must be registered in advance to attend the play group, and the weekly fee is $3 per dog. Some weeks, more than 160 dog attend the two-hour play group, and Nashua D.O.G., a 501(c)(3) organization, collects about $500 weekly in playgroup fees.
Bacon's person has posted (on flickr) what may be the first photograph of legal off-leash recreation in Somerville, MA.
I was in Florence the day the fence for Somerville's first off-leash recreational area (OLRA) was installed in Nunziato Field and the "No-Dogs-Allowed-Yadda-Yadda-Yadda" sign was removed from the Putman Street entrance to the OLRA.
The Grand Opening of the OLRA at Nunziato Field (on Summer Street at Putnam Street) will be Sunday, April 9, 2006, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
In the Bostondogs Yahoo! group the Friends of Peters Park anounced today that they have submitted the first Dog Recreation Space (DRS) application, in accordance with the DRS ordinance that Mayor Menino approved over a year ago.
Especially for those who worked tirelessly for many years to lobby for, create, and ultimately ensure enactment of a Dog Recreation Space ordinance for the City of Boston, I thought that this interest group would be pleased to know that the first formal submission under the new ordinance guidelines has been made by the Friends of Peters Park in Boston's South End....This proposal is a testament to the dedication and persistence of the Friends of Peters Park in crafting a DRS application that, in my opinion, not only meets both the letter and spirit of the ordinance, but also clearly establishes a necessary standard by which other submissions can be both fashioned and judged. Kudos to the Friends of Peters Park for their hard work, forbearance and for leading the way in Boston.
The Friends of Peters Park have made their application available as a .pdf file.
Congratulations Friends of Peters Park!
War is declared on the canine species in New-York, and they being strangers, and not having formed alliances for self-defense, but on the contrary, distressed and friendless may have been exposed not only to war, but to pestilence and famine also (George Washington to William Grayson [his assistant secretary and aide-de-camp during the American Revolution], August 22, 1875, quoted by Mark Derr in A Dog's History of America, p. 74).
Washington was concerned about foxhounds he had "adopted" from the Marquis de Lafayette that were in the care of John Quincy Adams, who had brought the dogs to New York from Europe.
Washington's dogs were safe at home at Mount Vernon when he was supervising the construction of an earthenwork forts at what is now Fort Washington Park, located on Waverly Street in Cambridge. Today the park is one of four in the City of Cambridge where dogs are allowed off-leash.
Combining historical considerations with consideration for the people who live in Cambridge today, the Cambridge Historical Commission has approved the temporary installation of fencing that will make the legal off-leash recreation area a safe area for off-leash recreation. The new fencing is not historically accurate; therefore with its approval of the temporary fencing, the Commission has stipulated that, within five years, the City must come up with a more harmonic alternative.
"A dog's life is not very long," said Commission member Jo Solet. "And if we put off putting up the fence, it really is a sacrifice for the dogs and the people [who own them]."
The creative compormise was reported in the Cambridge Chronicle on January 12.
via the Cambridge Dog Owners Group (CDOG)
Strummer had the pleasure this morning of making the acquaintance of several Brookline dogs, who welcomed her at the Brookline Avenue Playground during off-leash hours.
One of twelve parks in the Town of Brookline Green Dog Pilot Program, the Brookline Avenue Playground has off-leash hours from dawn to 1:00 pm, April through November, and from dawn to dusk, December through March. At the Annual Town Meeting on May 25, 2005, the Town of Brookline voted to extend the Green Dog Pilot Program to June 30, 2006 (Article 17 of the Town Warrant).
When we arrived at the "playground" at 10:00 this morning, a soccer game was ending. Also, during off-leash hours, a volley-ball game was played. It seems that, though off-leash recreation is not allowed during hours that are not designated for off-leash recreation, other kinds of recreation are allowed during hours that are designated for off-leash recreation. At almost four acres, however, the Brookline Avenue Playground was able to accommodate this mixed usage this morning.
Austin, Benny, Buddy, Ethan, Murphy, Otis, Samson: Strummer hopes to be able to repay your hospitality some day soon!
via e-mail
Looking to buy your next home in a dog-friendly neighborhood? Try Anapolis, MD, in Anne Arundel County. In addition to "four off-leash dog parks -- and one dog beach," the County features a "pet of the week" on its website home page, as reported in the Washington Post yesterday: "At Parks and Beach, Anne Arundel Dogs Are Given Free Rein."
Janet S. Owens, the Anne Arundel County [E]xecutive, . . . has taken pains to position Annapolis and its environs as a destination for dog ownersIn a county known for chocolate Labradors and, increasingly, thimble-size lawns, Owens has taken the unusual step of opening four off-leash dog parks -- and one dog beach -- on little more than a hunch that the dogs would come. She wants to market Anne Arundel as a dog-friendly county, to lure the leash-and-collar set in the same way that Blue Ribbon schools attract parents. . . .
"I just knew. . . . that it would be a gathering place for people," Owens said. "And it just struck me: It's important to building neighborhoods and community -- quality of life."
"The leash-and-collar set." Hey! We're a demographic! $35.9 billion annually can't be wrong.
via Boston Dogs
DogFriendly.com has published its 3rd Annual list of Top 10 Dog-Friendly Cities To Visit in North America.
Boston residents, who, because of its dearth of safe and legal options for off-leash recreation, consider Boston one of the least dog-friendly major cities in the U.S. in which to live, will be surprised to learn that of the top ten dog-friendly cities to visit in the U.S. Boston is number three.
Families with dogs who are planning to visit Boston should be advised that some of the dog-friendly attractions listed for Boston are not quite as attractive as DogFriendly.com makes them out to be. For example, do not book a hotel on the basis of its proximity to the Charlesgate Dog Run. See for yourself: the "dog run" is not used and not usable by families with dogs.
In the past year that Strummer has been a member of my family I've taken her to a lot of places I'd never before been: The Middlesex Fells, Fresh Pond Reservation, the Arnold Arboretum, Cat Rock,
