Leashed dogs should be allowed in city parks, playing fields and open green space or conservation land. Owners should be required to pick up and dispose of waste. This means the City needs to provide trash receptables and then empty them.
I believe the City can use the Mass Conservation Commission Guidelines as a model:
http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/massparks/recreational-activities/dogs-in-massparks.html.
Dogs could be allowed to off-leash open or green space when they meet the following conditions:
The dog is trained, e.g., comes back immediately when called; is friendly with other dogs and people; is not a dog trained to hunt and kill wildlife; the owner puts the dog back on leash when another dog approaches.
Areas need to be designated where dogs can be off-leash and socialize. I do not believe that dogs should be allowed off leash except in these designated areas.
Dogs should be allowed in play/ball fields as long as owners pick up the waste.
I just want to add that this City is /or should be well aware that Dept. Of Conservation is very open to dogs in Parks. They have done a lot of research and is the Dept. that the City (all cities in US) have to submit and get the final ok from for their Open Space Plan which they depend on for funding.
Creating new threads on the same topic is splitting the votes for the topic of dog parks. The thread with the lowest votes moves to the bottom of the priority list. I recommend consolidating any separate threads so that all votes will be tallied on the main thread.
Two points: Please be sure to vote on ALL threads with which you agree.
2. I have talked to the mainenance/grounds keeper at Holmes Field. Paraphrased:
tom: "hiya! (as he was emptying trash buckets into his truck) That's less work now that someone has taken away half of the trash cans recently."
DPW: "Yeah. I did that. Too many people were throwing their household trash in them. I'm not here to take people's personal rubbish!"
Tom: "But as you can see from the litter, it appears to have exacerbated that problem."
And on and on we went until I pointed out that at least a citizen tied a trash bag to the fence which makes it easier to dispose of my dog's waste (I walk her on the grassed in sidewalk outside of the park.)
DPW: "I put that bag on the fence. That way people don't throw their trash bags into it."
Summary: I hope we can get enough trash buckets placed but with low-level workers making decisions like this at our parks, I'm not sure how effective our requests will be.
Tom , you can also add that recently DPW ?Parks found it in their budget to hire 2 security gusrds to harass-enlighten? citizens about laws in certain parks but then they cry "no money" to do anything other than haress.
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