Residential intensification has changed all of our lifestyles, and dog owners can be no exception. Parks are now the community's backyard and outdoor living room.
Our group, Play at the Park, believes grass should be free from remnants of dog excrement, and dogs should not be roaming loose. In a city such as Toronto, off-leash dogs should be enclosed in their own assigned public spaces across the city.
Mayor David Miller, city council and the board of health have a legal responsibility to keep the city safe. The city has talked up the expansion of off-leash areas, and talked down safety standards. If it transfers the responsibility for setting standards to neighbourhoods, it will be war.
According to the city's "Safety with Dogs" website, children should be taught, "walk, not run, past dogs that are not tied up or fenced in." Perversely, it also advises children encountering an off-leash dog: "Slowly move back to the point where the dog does not feel threatened."
Is the city expecting that the public protect itself from a poorly designed policy? This is unacceptable in a society confronted with an epidemic of childhood obesity.
Jan Kasperski, CEO of the Ontario College of Family Physicians, states: "Children, teens and adults have the right to congregate for recreational purposes free from any potential threat from off-leash dogs."
Dr. Denis Daneman, chief of pediatrics at the Hospital for Sick Children, concurs, and they together ask that off-leash areas be enclosed and located in large parks, and alternatively in areas where there is minimum opportunity for conflict.
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