Dirty Dog Run Making Pooches Sick
The conditions at the Park Slope dog run have gotten downright unsanitary, according to dog owners who regularly visit the run, and things are only bound to get worse as the weather warms. Dog owners charge that, in addition to the general unpleasantness, the urine-soaked wood chips are to blame for giving their furry friends…
The conditions at the Park Slope dog run have gotten downright unsanitary, according to dog owners who regularly visit the run, and things are only bound to get worse as the weather warms. Dog owners charge that, in addition to the general unpleasantness, the urine-soaked wood chips are to blame for giving their furry friends parasites and diarrhea. The Parks Department confirms that all is not as it should be. J.J. Byrne Park manager Eric Greene said they haven’t been changed since November. “I don’t want to change them at all because it’s all going to be under construction,” he said, referring to the new park Boymelgreen has promised to start building next month because part of the old one was used as a staging area to construct The Novo. Nevertheless, Greene said compaints have prompted the Parks Department to drop off wood chips beside the park within two weeks. This time volunteers are supposed to change them. (Normally, he said, the department does most of the work, removing the fence and lugging out special equipment to change the paw padding. “It’s very time-consuming.”) Tony Chiappelloni, president of FIDO, an off-leash advocacy group for Prospect Park, said, “Personally I think small dog runs are basically unhealthy.”
Extreme Makeover Planned for J.J. Byrne Park [Brownstoner]
just to clarify one point, there is a dog license fee of 8.50. I wouldn’t oppose to having it raised if the money actually went to dog parks.
I acknowledge that there’s no real enforcement of this licensing.
As someone who lived right by the dog run until recently, and who also has a dog, a coupla comments:
1. Parks does not really maintain these runs, despite what you hear. Parks dumps a load of wood chips outside the run, and volunteer dog owners shovel the chips inside.
2. Parks does not pick up the old chips, they just sort of settle and disappear. They get picked up with poop, washed away in the rain, and so on.
3. There is not one but two dog runs, with the other being on 4th Ave.
4. For the fake libertarians in the house, may I point out that local real estate agents use the presence of these dog runs as a selling point, so if you are a property owner in the neighborhood you benefit from the increase (however small) with having a dog run available. See for example, Corcoran’s ad for the Novo.
http://www.corcoran.com/property/nd/detail_overview.aspx?ndevid=311&userid=NOVO
5. Also for the fake libertarians, I would suggest that we don;t need any of JJ Byrne Park. It all serves special interest groups. Not only dog owners, but softball players, handball players, people with children, and soon, skateboarders. It should be sold to Katan with the proceeds turned over to the taxpayer. Katan can then put up another yellow brick beauty to go between the Crest and the Novo.
6. Another reason the dog run is such a dump is that Boymelgreen is supposed to supply a new one, and as usual, he is a year behind schedule.
7. Manitoba, dog owners do pay a licensing fee, altho not of that magnitude.
Why worry about newsouthslopers boilerplate libertarian claptrap. It’s just his opinion and it will NEVER be reality. So let him kvetch and be a pot stirrer if it amuses him. We all need hobbies!
Libertarians. Kurt Loder and newsouthsloper. ‘Nuff said.
Two different suggestions:
1. Pave over the dog run and install a house. It seems to work for the one at Mercer and Houston.
2. Initiate a dog/cat-licensing fee of 50-100 bucks a year and use this money specifically for subsidizing dog walks.
Newsouthsloper-
I will agree with you on a few points. I agree that “You are responsible for your own success and failure, the government should be the absolute last resort safety net, not the primary provider of every special interest, social service, or aid for every misstep or misfortune suffered by individuals” But we are talking about a dog run for public use. Not social security. Not affirmative action. Not school vouchers. There is a significant amount of the citizenry who not only own, but LOVE their dogs. As such, it seems only likely that they would want a part of their tax dollars, and a part of the land set aside for public use, to address the desire of that group of citizens to not only spend some time outdoors with their dogs, but to allow their dogs to socialize with each other so that they are healthy and well adjusted members of their families. And while I agree with you in essence that the government should not be the “primary provider” of special interests, if there is enough of a percentage of the populace who not only want but need access to that “special interest” then it IS the government’s job to address it. I don’t need my tax dollars going towards many things that our government puts our taxes towards. But the basic idea behind government and the social contract is that I give up certain things in order to get certain things. If it makes you feel better, perhaps you should view it as your tax dollars going towards the building of the new sports stadiums, and those of us who want and need a clean, accessible, and spacious dog run/park will see our taxes going towards that.
“Perhaps you should leave us to our blue state misery and take your pathetic case to another state where your close-mindedness might be better tolerated and perhaps even appreciated.”
Actually guest, the brand of politics I am supporting is neither fascist or closed minded. In fact it is the simplest and most open-minded policy on the planet.
You are free to enjoy your life and property in whatever way you see fit, so long as it does not endanger or intrude on my rights to do the same. The goverment is in place to protect my rights and safety, end of story. Worship any god, or none, have an abortion every year or start a Charity to help others so they dont have to have an abortion, buy land and operate a dog run, whatever. The key is its your responsibility to run your own life, not everyone elses. You are responsible for your own sucess and failure, the government should be the absolute last resort saftey net, not the primary provider of every special interest, social service, or aid for every misstep or misfortune suffered by individuals.
Sounds like the dog-mafia is fiercer than the stroller-mafia.
newsouthsloper is The What’s alter ego.