ohmidog!

Finally, the Baltimore Sun is giving dogs some say. Either that, or it has laid off so many people it has to turn to dogs to provide content. In any case, the once-great newspaper printed a letter to the editor today from an Airedale, who may or may not have been assisted by her owner, Tom McCracken.

Apparently provoked by the new $1,000 penalty for unleashed dogs, the dog unleashed some opinions of her own in the letter, which was directed to Baltimore’s City Council. Here are some excerpts:

City Council Members: Please do not be surprised to get an e-mail from a dog …  My name is Maggie Mae, and I am a very lucky dog. My people live along a wonderful park …  A lot of my friends and I get to meet in this park almost daily for socialization and exercise, and any dog will tell you that a happy dog is a much better citizen than a frustrated one.

Maggie Mae Airedale

Baltimore city’s leash law – and the new $1,000 fine violators of it face – was alternately blasted and defended on WEAA’s Marc Steiner Show last night as four guests and numerous caller-inners voiced their opinions and offered solutions.

The city increased the leash law fine from $100 to $1,000 in February, then followed up with a crackdown on violators.

William Cole, the city councilman who, though he was among those approving the increased fines, is now seeking to have them lowered, and said last night that the majority of the council feels the same way.

Cole has also introduced an amendment to allow the city Recreation and Parks Department establish off-leash hours in designated areas of city parks.

Cole said he favors fines of $250 for a first offense, $500 for a second, and $1,000 for a third. But he also said, at one point, “I would hope that any animal control officer responding to a complaint is first going to give a warning.”

Cole also displayed some excellent hair-splitting skills when he said that the new law, while it does produce new revenue for the city, “is not a revenue-producing bill.”

And he was slightly off the mark when he assured listeners that a dog park in Latrobe Park in Locust Point – the first the city has chosen to take part in opening – would be ready in “in the next couple weeks … two months?” Mary Porter, design planner for the city Department of Recreation and Parks, then corrected him, saying, “end of the summer.”

Also on the program were Judith Kunst, a single mother and dog owner involved in the petition effort to reduce the fines (1,316 signatures so far), and Robert Joyce, a dog owner and lawyer who has offered to represent, pro bono, anyone fined $1,000 for having their dog off leash.

You can hear the podcast here.

Cole admitted that the city council wasn’t aware it was increasing the off-leash fine when it approved the bill, saying it was included in a category marked “other offenses” that no one seems to have bothered to look into. “Quite frankly, we didn’t pick up on it,” he said.

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Mark Steiner will dedicate an hour of his radio program tomorrow (Tuesday) to the controversy over Baltimore’s leash law, new fines and the lack — at least I hope he sees it as a lack — of dog parks in the city.

The Steiner Show airs from 5 to 7 p.m. on WEAA (88.9 on your radio dial).

Among those on hand to discuss the issue wll be Judith Kunst, a Hampden dog owner; a representative of the city Recreation and Parks Department; and City Councilman Bill Cole, sponsor of an amendment to reduce the newly imposed $1,000 off-leash fine and a proposal to allow parks to establish off leash hours. Also scheduled to appear is Rob Joyce, a local attorney who has offered to represent anyone cited under the new penalty.

To comment on the show, call 410-319-8888, or email questions to steinershow@gmail.com.

A City Council subcommittee is scheduled to hold a hearing on revisions to the leash law May 12 at 9 a.m. in City Hall.

Steiner, a fixture at radio station WYPR for 15 years, started a show on WEAA, Morgan State University’s radio station, last summer.

This morning’s Baltimore City Council hearing on leash laws was postponed after a water main break forced City Hall to be emptied. It has been rescheduled for May 12 at 9 a.m.

After an outcry by dog owners, the council is reconsidering the $1,000 fine it approved for unleashed dogs. Also to be presented at the hearing of the council’s Judiciary & Legislative Investigations Committee was an amendment to allow the city’s director of Recreation and Parks to enact off-leash hours at city parks.

Anne Madison, an ohmidog! friend and correspondent, provided us with a copy of a letter she has sent to her city councilman, James Kraft.

As it so articulately sums up the concerns and feelings of many dog owners — both in regards to the recent increases in fines and the city’s overall lack of dog-friendliness – we’re reprinting it here in its entirety:

(A City Council committee is holding a hearing on the fine for unleashed dogs today –10 a.m., on the fourth floor of City Hall — and is considering lowering the fine from $1,000 to $250 for a first offense.)

Dear Councilman Kraft:

I have been a resident of Baltimore for almost thirty years, and for the past twenty have resided in your district. My husband and I own a rescued purebred Beagle who was acquired by us as the direct result of two violent crimes–a burglary and a home invasion in which my then 80-year-old mother was seriously injured by criminals who robbed her. While not an “attack dog” by any means, the dog provides us with security and peace of mind by barking appropriately and alertly when anyone comes into our space. My husband works on the third shift, and our dog provides additional comfort and security for me because I do not need to feel I am alone at night. Frankly, after what happened to my mother, it was buy a dog or buy a gun. We chose the sane and non-violent alternative.

We are responsible dog owners. Our dog is exercised on leash in the neighborhood or off leash at the Canton Dog Park, which as you know was built through the efforts and fundraising of the dog-loving community members of Canton. Our dog is properly vaccinated for rabies and other canine diseases. He is microchipped. We acquire and pay for the correct license each year from the city. He is neutered.

I am appalled by the punitive animal control fines recently enacted by the City Government for various transgressions that are, to be blunt, fairly minor. I am stunned by the fact that one careless failure to “scoop the poop” or one lonely afternoon of dog “separation anxiety” can net a fine TWICE THE AMOUNT of that levied against someone running a dog fight or running an unlicensed boarding facility or (as it appears) hoarding animals or running a puppy mill.

What was the City Government thinking? It appears at first glance that you may have chronicled the impression that this was some sort of untapped revenue source there for the taking. It appears at first glance that you, the members of the City Council, care more about rolling in the bucks than you do about the welfare and well-being of either the city’s human or animal population. We’ve heard a great deal of hoopla about dog parks in various areas of the city–but there’s been little action. People in the Patterson Park area have been trying for seven years to get some small area of that vast expanse set aside for their use. Apparently giant balloon-like skating structures and asphalt tennis courts are “attractive” but a fenced dog park is “not attractive.” It appears that the “Friends of Patterson Park” aren’t actually friends to all.

You should be aware that average, working, tax-paying, bill-paying people regard dog ownership as a quality-of-life issue. When the quality of life gets too poor, or the cost of living in the city becomes too burdensome, people flee their city homes for the suburbs or the country. To be honest, we’re at the point where if a friend asked us whether to move to Baltimore City or one of the surrounding counties, we’d seriously advise that person not to come here.

While I am on the subject, I found it singularly unattractive that someone sent two Baltimore City police officers to make their presence felt at the recent MD SPCA March for the Animals at Druid Hill Park. Frankly, Mr. Kraft, it was bad PR. It had the appearance that they were looking out for tickets they could issue. I hope the event will be relocated to a county park next year.

I urge you and the other City Council members to reconsider these outrageous fines.There should be warnings and progressively larger tickets to weed out people who genuinely don’t care. And you should punish animal abusers just as severely or more severely. While you are at it, it is past time to make a move towards reasonable off-leash exercise areas in various parts of the city. Tomorrow’s hearing provides the City Council with a golden opportunity to set things right. Please do your part to see that they avail themselves of it.

Respectfully,

Anne Madison

(Photo by Anne Madison)

Compare this picture with the one in our earlier entry and you get some idea of how taking your dog to the park in Baltimore city differs from a lot of other places, including just across the border in Anne Arundel County.

Anne Arundel County has four parks (not counting the town of Bowie’s) and two dog beaches that welcome well-behaved unleashed dogs.

We spent some time at the dog beach in Pasadena (Downs Park) Sunday, partly to beat the heat, partly because we don’t feel too comfortable or welcome in our own Baltimore city park since the city imposed $1,000 fines for leash law violations.

Other than the privately built and funded Canton Dog Park — not really big enough for a big dog to get his run on — the city of Baltimore has no dog parks, no place for dogs to run freely and get the exercise they need, though work is underway to open the first city-built one at Latrobe Park in Locust Point.

Maybe tomorrow’s city council hearing will get things moving. Until then, there’s always Anne Arundel. Here’s where unleashed dogs are allowed there:

Downs Park - Dog Beach only
8311 John Downs Loop
Pasadena, Maryland 21122

Quiet Waters Park - Dog Park and Dog Beach
600 Quiet Waters Park Road
Annapolis, MD 21403

Bell Branch Park
2400 Davidsonville Road
Gambrills, Maryland

Broadneck Park
618 Broadneck Road
Arnold, Maryland

Maryland City Park
565 Brockbridge Road
Laurel, Maryland

Dogs bark when something’s amiss. We humans sign petitions. The time has come to do a little of both.

Not to many working people have the leeway to attend a 10 a.m. City Council meeting, but for those who can, Tuesday’s meeting in city hall represents a rare opportunity to let city leaders know not just that their $1,000 fine for an off leash dog is out of line, but that the time has come to make this a more dog-friendly city.

How? By coming through with promised dog parks, by instituting off leash hours, at least on an experimental basis at a city park or two, and by not dumping on that substantial population of voters that has dogs.

Petitions calling upon the city to reduce the recently imposed $1,000 fine for letting a dog off its leash are now circulating around town and online. You can find, and sign, the online version here.

At tomorrow’s meeting the city will take up a proposal to reduce the fine. Also introduced will be an amendment authored by council member William Cole that would allow the city’s director of recreation and parks to enact off leash hours at city parks — something that currently can’t be done because of the leash law. Cole’s amendment would exempt city-approved off leash hours from the law.

Of course, that doesn’t mean off leash hours will be approved, only that they can be.

Cole said he expects the fine reduction and the off-leash authorization to eventually be approved by the council.

“Yes, I believe that both will get support for a majority of the Council,” he said. “There appears to be rather broad support for the off-leash language, but I haven’t started counting votes.”

Tuesday’s meeting is a hearing (on Bill 09-0322) before the Judiciary & Legislative Investigations Committee. The committee is chaired by Councilman Jim Kraft, and its other members are Robert Curran, Rikki Spector, Agnes Welch and Cole.

The meeting is in the City Council Chambers on the 4th floor of City Hall. (A picture ID required for admission to City Hall.)

Petitions to reduce Baltimore city’s $1,000 leash law fine, and urge the city to provide options for dogs to excercise while off leash are now circulating in the city and on the Internet.

To sign the petition online, click here.

The petition supports a measure to reduce the $1,000 fine, and also calls upon the city to establish more dog parks and provide off-leash hours in city parks. Both matters are to come before the City Council at its 10 a.m. meeting Tuesday.

The petition reads as follows:

This petition supports the significant lowering of dog fines as introduced on April 20, 2009 by Baltimore City Council ordinance 09-0322, titled “Leash Law- Environmental and Civil Citations FOR THE PURPOSE of reducing certain civil penalties for violating animal control law requirements for leashes or other restraints; and providing for a special effective date.” Additionally, we encourage the City Council to quickly introduce additional (legislation) that will make Baltimore City more dog-friendly through new programs such as off-leash hours in public green areas and dog parks.

We, the undersigned, protest the recent January 2009 Leash Law tied to escalated fines and support the counter-ordinance 09-0322 that proposes significantly reduced fines, currently scheduled for a vote by the City Council of Baltimore at 10:00 a.m. on April 28, 2009.

As an active citywide community representing citizens of all ages, races and economic backgrounds, we share a love of our dogs—pets we responsibly exercise in public spaces. The recent dramatic increase of Baltimore City’s off-leash fines has successfully united us to petition for a variety of public opportunities to maximize dog-owning residents to responsibly use and enjoy Baltimore’s public green areas, just as major American cities have offered citizens for decades.

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The idea of designating off leash hours for dogs in parks seems to be catching on in Massachussetts, where a handful of towns have turned to the practice in an effort to resolve the conflict between those who like to  let their dogs run freely and those who complain about it.

The town of Weston, Mass – which is currently wrestling with whether to limit off-leash dogs — may wind up taking a lesson from Wellesley, Mass., the Boston Globe reports. In Wellesley, designated off leash hours at Perrin Park seem to be working, local officials said.

The conflict in Wellesley came to a head last fall when neighbors and parents complained of uncleaned dog waste and packs of dogs running wildly and interrupting games. The town briefly banned off-leash dogs in Perrin, creating an outcry among dog lovers. Now, off-leash dogs are relegated to early morning and evening hours when the fields are not in use.

“It seems to be working pretty well so far,” aid Janet Hartke Bowser, executive director of Wellesley’s Natural Resources Commission, which oversees the dog rules. “In general, compliance has been good.”

Several other municipalities have instituted off-leash hours, are considering them, or are giving them a trial run, like the experiment we told you about last month in Newton, Mass.

In addition, Brookline launched a program in 2006 that limits accessibility to off-leash dogs to the mornings and evenings in most of the city’s 14 public parks. Arlington is planning a similar pilot program, where residents would pay $40 and non-residents $100 to walk their dogs off-leash in town parks.

Here in Baltimore, several residents proposed the city consider trying off-leash hours in a meeting with City Councilman Ed Reisinger in Riverside Park last week. The meeting was held after an outcry over the city instituting $1,000 fines for off-leash dogs. Reisinger seemed to put little stock in the suggestion, and said creating more dog parks was the solution, but a group of dog owners in Riverside is still trying to push the idea. They, and the city, might be well served by looking at Wellesley.

Dog Fancy magazine has released its annual list of America’s Best Dog Parks – and the winner is …  Freedom Bark Park in Lowell, Indiana.

“It’s never easy to create a dog park, but particularly in a small community that doesn’t even allow leashed dogs in regular parks,” explains Dog Fancy Editor Susan Chaney. “The way dog lovers pulled together in Lowell impressed us. Also factoring into our decision were the digging areas so dogs can do what they love to do and the environmental efforts of the Freedom Bark Park Committee.”

Every year, Dog Fancy asks its readers to submit nominations for America’s best dog park. Parks must have fencing, double gates and free clean-up bags to be considered. Parks are then judged based on a list of standards including: water for dogs and their people, shade, lights, parking availability and accessibility, support organizations and special events, among others.

The rest of the top ten were:
 

• Dog Wood Dog Park, Jacksonville, Fla.
• Howard and Erna Soldan Dog Park, Lansing, Mich.
• Cheyenne Park Off-Leash Area, Ely, Iowa
• Jackson’s Howlabaloo Dog Park, Edinboro, Pa.
• Happy Tails Dog Park, Dunedin, Fla.
• Shaggy Pines Dog Park, Ada, Mich.
• Ossining Dog Park, Ossining, N.Y.
• Dogwood Park at Victor Ashe Park, Knoxville, Tenn.
• Millie Bush Bark Park, Houston, Texas.