Recently the Patch displayed a link for, Dream Dog Park Contest. Cannot help to realize just about anywhere there is a park dogs are present. The question must be asked, are these developed spaces specifically for Dogs and their owners paid for with "our" tax dollars? Do these Dog parks count as acquired Open Space or Parkland in a municipal planning element?
If Dog Owners have this much right, then for example dogs should be banned in most State & National Parks. Although some parks do not allow pets in some places, most of the State & National Parks allow dogs in many areas, asking that the dog be kept on a leash and not cause a disturbance. Many if not most dog owners disregard these rules. At Crater Lake for example in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, pet owners do not even clean their dog's waste, keep their animals on leashes or curtail their barking.
If we are going to have Dog Parks, then dogs should be restricted in the other Parks set aside for wildlife habitat or historical landscapes. This would be include special areas for hunting dogs. Many pet owners do not have the respect to pick-up after their dogs. In Israel for example, pet owners must register their animals DNA, any waste found in public places is easily tracked to the correct owner fines administered and other possible measures.
In the USA dogs especially have perhaps too much latitude; instead of the Dog Park, we should be investing in the DNA to bring responsibility to the real issues of dogs in public. I for one would like to see Dog free areas especially at Water sites, like Crater Lake and others in the National & State Park Systems. The most disgusting element of the dog park is the bags of waste thrown into trash barrels smelling up the place on a hot summer day; who pays for this waste removal service?
