Dogs should be allowed in all city parks as long as they are on leash. Not all dogs are able to mingle and unfortunately their owners do not always accept this. It appears that people are happy with Boynton Park as a run free space. No dog park should be located near homes and I do wish the city would require dog friendly space within all these TIF deals they are making or in some of our less than lovely blighted areas. I also think free runs before and after high use times might work. Many beaches allow dogs from 5-7 am and after certain times. It is the non licensed dogs we need to monitor so the city needs to make sure they advertise any changes and use the dog license fees to hire appropriate staff to fine non licensed dogs. Above all we need to remember that the reason dogs are not always welcome is that owners do not always do the right thing. We are an urban area and I do not wish to have to "deal" with a non responsible dog owner and have my own dog put in a dangerous position.
The faux ( my opinion ) Dog "park" meetings (4 total by Dec. ) are going on now.The 2rd one is tonight at 6:30 City Hall. The 1 st meeting squash down discussion of reviewing leash law of dogs going into parks. This is a major theme of these questions on this city's crowd sourcing site and has also been brought up numerous times at meetings but this City continues to use the law against its citizens.
Tom , Deb does want Dog Parks(she calls them run free space ) for those that use them . What she is saying is that she doesn't want to break a law when taking her leashed dog into a tax paying park. All parks in Worcester have off leashed dogs and dogs being walked on leash but it is in chaos . If the City would have a reasonable "holistic " approach to dog "issues" like ,places, times , conditions that meet the needs of its residents it would become a more vibrant city instead of a lawless mess.The time for this Cities "pilot "program of the last 20 years of having a law prohibiting leashed dogs in Parks is a complete FAILURE. This Cities "pilot" program of a sucessful (by community standards-internet likes etc) of an off leash Park at Boynton should stand as a model and not as a model of a Cities attempt to distroy its own community.
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