to continue responsible off leash recreation and to give the Parks Commissioner the right to use discretion in making regulations for each city park as needed.
Dogs are our family members and having a dog park is a great deterrent to crime. A would be robber, mugger, etc...will definitely think twice of attempting a crime in a park full of dogs. It's the people that don't understand dogs that give dogs a bad name. The dogs at the off leash sites are not aggressive at all adn enhances their pack mentality and helps socialize our dogs so they don't become aggressive towards people or other dogs. It's the owners who keep their dogs indoors and only bring them out so they can go to the bathroom that their dogs become anti social and aggressive as they don't know how to act or react to people or dogs. It's like being in prison wher you only get 30 minutes of outdoor time.
OFFLEASH RECREATION IS IMPORTANT TO MY QUALITY OF LIFE
Living in New York City is not new for my family for at the turn of the century they came through Ellis Island and here we have stayed in Brooklyn for four generation.
It is strange as one lives in a place for a long time they lose sight of their surrounding as they say one loses sight of the trees for the forest. We work; we raise our children, and get lost in the forest of daily living, surviving and enjoying life, depending on the roll of the dice presented for the day. We are not in prison for there are no bars, but none the less were are locked in a box dictated by where we live and what we have.
My children are grown now and have a life of their own. The years have snuck up and I am no longer young. My house is quiet yet I am no longer lonely for I adopted a stray dog which I have named Dio Mar translated into God of the Sea. He doesn’t look like a God, but then again what does a God look like. He has short legs and eyes that remind me of Bambi the story which I read so many times to my children. He is about one year old and his energy is bountiful which has caused me to come out of the box. He and I go to the Prospect Park every morning for at least two hours, he runs and plays, I walk and talk with other dog owners. I never realized thanks to Dio Mar that one did not have to drive for hours to see the trees changing colors, or to smell the sweetness of grass in the early morning or that life stops when the children are gone. He has shown me that you can run and laugh at any age and one does not have to live in a box.
If the rules are changed so that the parks will be closed to dogs unless they are on a leash is a crime, it put those of us and our pets who helped take us out of the box and into the parks out of the park and back into the box.
I do not understand those that think dogs are dangerous and should no
domesticated dogs have been important members of human society for thousands of years for good reasons. The people of NY benefit from their companionship in so many ways. We need to insure that the dogs of this City are well cared for. That includes providing them with places to run, play and interact with other dogs.
