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MILLWOOD, N.Y. – An incident in which an unleashed dog bit a town employee has prompted Parks and Recreation chief Robert Snyder to seek more aggressive enforcement of New Castle's dog regulations.
In a letter to the Town Board, Snyder said dog owners are consistently breaking leash and health laws and making the town’s parks unsafe and unsanitary. The straw that broke the camel’s back came on Aug. 1 in Gedney Park when a town employee was bitten by an unleashed dog.
“It has become increasingly apparent to me that the current dog regulations as they relate to the parks are not working,” Snyder wrote. “This is the third time in the last five years that a town employee was bitten by an unleashed dog.”
Snyder said he has witnessed dogs running without leashes, owners walking more than the maximum of three dogs, dogs diggings holes in park ball fields, dogs drinking from public water fountains and bathroom sinks and other infractions.
“At the very least, our next first step should be to re-educate the residents with information on the current rules and aggressively issue tickets to folks that disregard them,” Snyder wrote. “If this does not work we would need to consider not allowing dogs in the parks at all.”
Town Clerk Jill Shapiro agreed that some dog owners have ignored the rules, which are posted throughout Gedney Park, but said the missing component is enforcement.
“I would propose we ask the Police Chief to post our part-time dog warden in Gedney Park at random times to patrol and enforce our park rules with respect to dogs,” Shapiro wrote.
The parks’ dog rules will be discussed by town officials Wednesday during a Town Board work session.
Comments (2)
It is interesting to see how "officials" seem to excel at turning a situation even more negative instead of trying to find a positive solution. Yes, we should do something to affect an entire community because of a few isolated incidents. Anybody read about the dog in CA on death row who was off leash in a dog park where dogs are allowed to be off leash. A police officer on a horse entered the dog park and surprise, one of the dogs got spooked by the horse and nipped him (both horse and rider suffered no lasting or serious injury). The horse had no business in the park but now the dog is being treated as the criminal.
Dog owners everywhere struggle with how to train their dogs and curb their tendencies toward unwanted behavior. They also struggle with an increasingly hostile population banning their attendance in so many places that dogs development even more unwanted traits from being left home alone so often with less exercise. My children play sports and while we spend hours on grassy fields every single weekend almost none of them welcome pets. All because a few owners aren't diligent about cleaning up - so ridiculous.
You would have to live in a hole not to have heard of Caesar Milan. So many pet owners have benefitted from his expertise in identifying and correcting behavior. Why doesn't the town sponsor some dog training classes to help owners train their dogs around people and animals? Would probably cost a lot less than the salary of a warden or police officer with no lifetime benefit package attached either.
I have to disagree with the previous comment about poop everywhere - if there is an abundance of waste it is the population of Canadien geese not the dogs that make it unpleasant in some areas. Some people have dogs, some people don't. The trick is for both sides to respect and tolerate each other.
I live right by the park and have to say it is more of a dog park now. While most owners curb their dogs, I have had many dogs bark at me, which makes taking a walk unpleasant. Not to mention so much dog poop everywhere! I am glad to see that it is being addressed.