A Tight Leash in Brookline
The City of Brookline is planning something really annoying: it wants to require dog owners to buy a $52-a-year permit to allow their dogs to roam off-leash in parks during off-leash hours. Currently, the Green Dog Program allows owners to walk their un-leashed dogs in a few parks from dawn until 9 a.m. without a permit.
The city argues the new fee will persuade wayward dog owners to pick up after their dogs. I disagree. As a dog owner who always picks up, I argue the permit will have the opposite effect: owners will feel like they paid for the right to let Fido crap all over.
I get as annoyed as everyone else after stepping in dog poo, but a punitive law won’t resolve this problem and it won’t improve Brookline’s image. Families move to Brookline for great schools and the chance to live an urban existence amidst greenery. With parks around every corner, they can finally get a dog. So why hit a nice family with another tax? That’s not very charitable.
Here’s a better idea: raise the laughable $15 fines for not picking up after a dog (hey, why not $150?) and have an animal control officer enforce the law. This way, law-abiding dog owners aren’t punished for a crime they never committed.
In and Around St. Mary’s Street
John K said:
To people who say, “I have to let my dog off his leash in the park, we don’t have a back yard,” I say, “Yes, you have a back yard … it’s called New Hampshire!”
June 4, 2008 11:38 AM