June/July
2004
Taking the Bite
Out of Bark Parks
By Kymberlie Adams Matthews
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The call for dog runs dates back more than two decades, when battles
raged between guardians who let their furry companions scamper off their
leash, and the authorities who slapped them with tickets for doing so.
As enforcement was stepped up in the ‘80s, so did lobbying from
dog guardians who demanded a place for their pooches. Parks Commissioner
Adrian Benepe said turf battles over dog runs showcase “New York
City politics in a nutshell.” His department oversees 36 of the
city’s 40 dog runs, which require community board approval.
The fact is off-leash recreation is still one of the biggest imbroglios
in park management, and one of the most politically challenging and
hotly debated items for local legislators. It’s inspiring participatory
democracy at its finest, with off-leash advocates, many of them political
novices, pulling out all stops to earn the right to exercise their dogs—and
it also has local politicians running for the hills.
In the documentary, The Run, director Erica Isaac offers a snapshot
of her own vibrant East Village community through the prism of the small-enclosed
dog run in Tompkins Square Park.
The city’s first dog run—aptly named First Run—has
sparked controversy since it opened in 1990 in the park sandwiched
between
Avenues A and B. What some neighbors consider the pride of the park,
others deride as an open sewer.
Even in New York, one of our nation’s most progressive cities,
any unleashed dog (with or without a guardian) seen sniffing his way
around would be met with the disdainful look of the humans using the
park. We all know that there are leash laws; no matter how well trained
or well mannered our canine might be, it is only proper that we, the
dog’s guardian, respect the rights of others who use our parks
and leash our companion. But what about a dog’s rights? Do they
not have the inalienable right to sniff at every tree and bush? To
dart
and dash through grass and mud? To meet, greet and bond with other
dogs?
We all strive to give our dogs a happy life and enough stimulation
so they poop out (in more ways than one). Unfortunately, strictly enforced
leash laws can really rip the joy out of this harmless activity, and
turn many of us into lawbreakers. No matter how vigilant the authorities
are—in New York they’re furnishing citizen-snitches with
cell phones!—dog people are united in their desire to get their
pooch a piece of the green!
Kymberlie Adams Matthews is an animal activist living
in Brooklyn. For information on “The Run,” see www.the-run.com.
To see a list of ‘Legal’ Dog Parks in NYC, visit www.doggeek.com.
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