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Dog wars unleashed

By LAUREN JOHNSTON | amNY.com Staff Writer

August 2, 2006

It's a bitter barking battle that has divided communities across the five boroughs: Should dogs be free to run without a leash in public city parks?

One Queens community group says no, and its members have filed a lawsuit against the parks department that could spell the end of off-leash hours, which run 9 p.m. to 9 a.m. in most parks.

The Juniper Park Civic Association, headquartered in Middle Village, says dogs on the loose break the law, pose a threat of attack and scare people from spaces intended for public recreation.

"The dog owners care nothing about the people around them who may be afraid of dogs," said JPCA president Robert Holden.

Under city health codes, dogs must be on a leash that is no longer than six feet at all times. The parks department, however, unofficially has allowed the off-leash "accommodation hours" for about 20 years.

Stories about dog bites and intimidation pushed Holden to file a formal suit, he said.

The parks department has two dog attacks on record for Juniper Valley Park during the last five years, and the city health department reports dog bites are down from about 40,000 in the 1960s to about 5,000 in 2003.

A win for the JPCA would put the city's 1.4 million dogs on a full-time tether eliminating the free-wheeling runs and romps their owners consider vital to a pup's well-being.

"The more natural environment the dog has," said Anthony Chiappelloni, a founder of the dog group FIDO (Fellowship in the Interest of Dogs and their Owners), "the better he is mentally and physically because he's really being a dog he's not just being walked around a block."

A Queens judge has adjourned the case until Aug. 29 -- instructing Parks and JPCA to find a compromise or go to trial. The parks department declined to comment because the case is pending.

Dog groups such as NYCDOG, an umbrella organization for about 35 groups with 20,000 members including FIDO and the newly formed Juniper Park Dog Association, are biting back with leaflets, message boards and a frenzied petition campaign to protect off-leash areas.

If the dogs lose -- parks lose too, said Chiappelloni, citing the positive effects canine emancipation has had in Prospect Park FIDO's home base and the city's largest off-leash area.

"Before FIDO," said Chiappelloni, "people wouldn't even come to this park. They were afraid. But once they saw the dog people here, they started coming and jogging and then the bicyclists came. It set off a chain reaction."

Holden's group maintains unleashed dogs are unpredictable and never really under owner control. "How can you have control over an unleashed dog unless you can outrun them," he said.

FIDO president Mary McInerney said a loss of the off-leash hours would be enough to send her packing.

"If I have to keep them on the street all the time, I'd pack up and go," she said. "It does mean that much to me."

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