TCDOG in the News

Letter to the editor published in The Ithaca Journal Saturday, March 5, 2005

Dog parks are safe

A recent letter noted the writer's satisfaction that owners of off-leash dogs at Treman are being ticketed.

An off-leash dog killed this man's childhood dog, which was leashed at the time. I am so sorry this man experienced such a horrifying event and loss.

The thought of losing Rocky, my dog, in such a violent way makes me feel sick.

But I hope Ithaca's dialogue about a dog park -- a dialogue that should be focused on meeting the needs of the whole community -- will not deteriorate into people battering others with stories of gruesome dog attacks.

I believe that, whenever possible, most of us want to defer to those who have been traumatized. I also believe that such deference isn't always appropriate or fair in community life.

Advocates of an off-leash dog park are not proposing that dogs run at will in the city. We aren't insisting that leashed dogs, their owners or people anxious around unleashed dogs be forced into contact with those of us prefer off-leash activity for our dogs. In fact, we are proposing the opposite.

We are asking permission to exercise our dogs off-leash in a clearly designated portion of an enormous public park designed and built to accommodate many of Ithaca's other recreational communities.

A legal, off-leash dog park at the Treman Marina/Cass Park complex would be one of the few designated uses that would accommodate simultaneous use for other recreational activities. We would happily share a designated area with anyone willing to share a patch of our public lands with us.

Ithaca is an amazing place, one of the country's most creative communities. A safe, off-leash dog park, now a commonplace in many progressive cities, ought to be one of the easier challenges for us.

Jean Brookbank
Ithaca

Originally published Saturday, March 5, 2005

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