Last night's public meeting on the Green Dog off-leash hours proposal was very productive. 56 people attended, and many got up to speak for or against the proposal. I will post a summary of the notes taken as soon as it's available. I was extremely impressed with the respectful behavior of everyone who attended. Although people had very strong feelings on the subject, they were able to be courteous, and this really facilitated a great discussion.
All input will be forwarded to the Parks Commission to aid them in deciding whether to allow a trial of this proposal. We are still collecting public input from anyone who was not able to attend last night's meeting. Please feel free to email me: dkurkjian@cityofmelrose.org or Joan Bell: jbell@cityofmelrose.org or post comments on this blog.
IMPORTANT: PLEASE SIGN YOUR POSTS! Part of the reason last night's meeting went so well was that people spoke face to face, acknowledging that they were having a conversation with neighbors and fellow citizens. On an online forum, anonymity can cause people to forget to be respectful. Also, although we are not strictly counting numbers of for/against comments, if people are not signing their posts it is hard to tell whether 10 citizens are posting or 1 citizen is posting 10 times. Thank you for your input! -Diane Kurkjian
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6 comments:
As a parent with a child at the Horace Mann school which is adjacent to Hesseltine Park, I am very much against off-leash hours. I have seen too many students step in dog waste to support this. First off all, let me say that I am a dog lover. My three children love dogs. This being said, I have no patience for irresponsible dog owners. I have observed dog owners letting their dogs run free at Hesseltine park in the evening near dusk. They are busy socializing with each other and are not paying attention to where their dogs are using the bathroom and therefore are not picking up the waste. I find this to be very selfish and irresponsible as they must know that children use this field every day for soccer, baseball, recess and physical education. I have seen many children enter the school building during the day with dog waste on their shoes. Sometimes parents have to be called to bring another pair of shoes for their child. Just last month at the Horace Mann back-to-school cookout there was dog waste on the grass near where a family had put their blanket down for a picnic dinner. I know that not all dog owners are this disrespectful but it is hard to monitor how many different owners don't pick up their dog's waste. There are already off-leash hours at Hesseltine Park, whether legal or not. I don't know who proposed this, but it's a bad idea. And there is also the issue of people who are not comfortable with dogs. It's one thing to let your dogs run free in the country or in a big backyard, but this is Melrose - a small city with homes and yards that are close together. People who live in cities are expected to use leashes in public. Our parks were not planned for dogs to run free. Again, I would like to state that I would have no problem with this if you could guarantee that owners would "scoop the poop", but this is definitely not the case at Hesseltine Park.
The dog owners let thier dogs to run free and talk to each other while the dogs do thier duty.
The holes they dig is another story.
What about the kids that go home and cry when the dogs are let loose.
After attending the meeting in City Hall on 10/15, I was shocked to learn from Ruth of the Board of Health & Diane, the City's Animal Control Officer that there are less than 1,500 licensed dogs in Melrose. If you use the Melrose Dog Society's figure that 5,000plus dogs live in Melrose as a rational for initiating an off-leash test, you got to be absolutely crazy to run a test with so many unlicenced dogs in the city. The Melrose Dog Society with the aid of animal control will stop at nothing to get what they want without regard for the health and safety of our children.
Good heavens 'McCarthy', you make it sound like the proverbial "right wing conspiracy". Lighten up, it's a discussion about dogs!
10.30.09 Update from Diane Kurkjian - Animal Control Officer. Please see her post at:
http://www.melrosecaninecontrolofficer.blogspot.com/
The city solicitor has determined that the power to change the leash ordinance lies with the Board of Aldermen (the Parks Commission cannot make this change). At a future date, the BOA may vote whether or not to change the ordinance that requires dogs to be on leash in public.
Reply to anonymous comment about Mccarthy:
No I won't lighten up nor will any of the residents who live near the Common ! Your total disregard for the safety of children & the public health are secondary to your own selfish special interests. The Common is a beautiful park & we won't let it become a dumping ground for a special interest group like the MDS. Let your dogs run in your own back yard. You voluntarily took on the responsibility for a pet - the city didn't ! McCarthy (not anonymous )
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