Pepper Spray?

WhyFi wrote: Do we wanna know....?

:oops: :oops: Its not like that, I swear!!!!!!!!

Subject: Re: Prospect Park Dogs

rockhound wrote:
it makes me sad to think how frightened some people are by dogs

People deserve compassion too, and NYC parks were originally created as a place for people to escape the stresses of urban confinement.

People have life experiences (serious bites, etc) with dogs that make them afraid or cautious around dogs. Some of the gung ho off leash militants hold fearful people in disdain. This is just wrong.

just to be clear, my original post was in no way intended to be patronizing or sarcastic. i am not afraid of dogs, but i have very smart, capable, rational, friends who are. (and sadly, some of them have very good reasons for having become afraid.) it's no fun.

Subject: Re: Prospect Park Dogs

scottb2k wrote: What law change are you talking about?

sorry i forgot to reply to this yesterday, scott. i am going to seriously paraphrase everything cuz it's a loooong story, but here is the gist. if you want more specific details you can do a search on this site (there was a lot of dialogue about it) or you can google it.

essentially, there had been an unofficial policy for the last twenty years or so (a gentlemen's agreement, you could say) about having unleashed dogs in Prospect Park (and others) during off-hours.

last spring, a person from a small park in queens took it upon himself to raise a lawsuit against the parks dept. and others saying that it was illegal to have unleashed dogs in parks and to compel them to obey their own rules, and that parks dept. didn't have the authority to allow for off-leash times.

well, his lawsuit came back to bite him in the proverbial butt. state supreme court ruled against him in November and said the parks dept. did indeed have the authority to decide. in December, the NYC board of health unanimously voted to amend Section 161.05 of the City Health Code commonly known at the "Leash Law", allowing the parks dept. the authority to permit off-leash recreation in parks at certain locations/certain times. in January, the parks dept. met to propose similar amendments to their regulations. the parks dept. amendment is not on the books yet, but most everyone agrees it will be.