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Dog leash drama nears grand finale

By Lauren Johnston, amNY.com | lauren.johnston@newsday.com

4:51 PM EST, February 22, 2007

Dog advocates and their foes showed up Thursday for a public hearing before the Parks Department to give one last woof in the debate over city leash laws.

It was the third and nearly-final act in a months-long drama that likely will end with Parks putting an official stamp on its 20-year practice of allowing off-leash playtime from 9 p.m. to 9 a.m. in designated parks -- but it hardly marked and end to the controversy.

Even hours before the hearing, advocates for NYCDog, an umbrella group that represents about 35,000 city dog owners, charged their opponents had stacked an anti-off-leash online petition with more than 4,000 fraudulent signatures.

NYCDog president Bob Marino said signatures started appearing on the petition at a rate of 1 per every 8 seconds for 9 hours the night before the hearing.

The host group iPetitions.com later removed the signatures in question.

About 80 people attended the hearing at the Chelsea Recreation Center, with the majority speaking in favor of continuing off-leash roaming for the city's ever-growing canine contingency.

Dog groups and the ASPCA put the number of dogs in New York City at about 1.4 million. Health department numbers report about 500,000 and most agree dismal adherence to licensing laws accounts for the discrepancy.

The Parks Department will now pore over testimony and letters before making final amendments and putting the dog wars to rest.

But that will be no small task. The group NYCDog alone submitted about 20,000 signatures and comments in favor of off-leash runs, which it says improve a dog's demeanor. Those against it say loose dogs pose a threat to other park users.

"We're listening hard and will be looking at every piece submitted," said Parks spokesperson Jama Adams.

The dog fight began last May when a Queens group, the Juniper Park Civic Association, filed suit against the city, charging off-leash hours violated health codes.

But a judge ruled in the city's favor and the Board of Health later voted that parks policies on dogs should be decided by the Parks commissioner -- on the condition that license and vaccination rules are strictly enforced.

"It's all about clear rules and strict enforcement," said NYCDog representative Matt Parker. "I think after 20 years they realize this is good and it's going to be even better now."

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Dog leash drama nears grand finale

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