HAPPY ENDING, PHOTO GALLERY, BEHAVIOR CLUES
Ithaca Journal Wednesday April 23, 2008
Dog park's happy ending
I have no idea whether TCDOG imploded or not (“Did TCDOG ‘implode?'” April 14), but I do know why folks no longer show up for Common Council meetings. There has been a very happy ending to this long, long saga of a dog park somewhere in Tompkins County. There has been plenty of public input over the years and in the last year, in addition to attending public meetings, many dog owners wrote to their city and state elected and appointed officials who listened. Now we have a 4.3-acre fenced-in dog park which is used by dozens and dozens — perhaps a hundred or more — of happy dogs and their owners every day. Those of us who go there are happy to have a safe, fenced-in park and it is due to the collaboration of city and state officials, and to those who stuck to their position that it must be fenced-in. It's a great place and has what dogs want the most — a large space .
Merry Jo Bauer
Ithaca
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Additional photos by Dog Park Advocates-- please send YOUR photos!
For a website for Dog Lovers, click below:
Dog park's happy ending
I have no idea whether TCDOG imploded or not (“Did TCDOG ‘implode?'” April 14), but I do know why folks no longer show up for Common Council meetings. There has been a very happy ending to this long, long saga of a dog park somewhere in Tompkins County. There has been plenty of public input over the years and in the last year, in addition to attending public meetings, many dog owners wrote to their city and state elected and appointed officials who listened. Now we have a 4.3-acre fenced-in dog park which is used by dozens and dozens — perhaps a hundred or more — of happy dogs and their owners every day. Those of us who go there are happy to have a safe, fenced-in park and it is due to the collaboration of city and state officials, and to those who stuck to their position that it must be fenced-in. It's a great place and has what dogs want the most — a large space .
Merry Jo Bauer
Ithaca
Your Opinions
Where's the puppy love?
Most American communities are justifiably proud of the recreational facilities they provide, whether municipal, state or readily available commercial facilities. And so we have tennis courts, playing fields for baseball, football, soccer, lacrosse, swimming pools, skating rinks, hiking trails, skateboard parks, playgrounds, various types of boating facilities, and so on, mostly available year round, weather permitting. These are the things that can help make modern life more pleasant and sweet, in the midst of our struggles and strivings. They can provide a most welcome change from the daily grind. And so it is somewhat surprising that the Ithaca Times seems repeatedly to be opposed editorially to one of these types of recreational amenities, a dog park.
Pet ownership is common and widespread in America, and love of dogs and cats often knows no bounds. Cats, being so different from dogs, are not pack animals that benefit from socialization as dogs do. We all know that unattended dogs can wander, cause damage to persons and property, apparently get lost more readily, can be injured or killed by traffic, and so on. For these reasons, and for the joy of human companionship among dog owners as well as the felicitous play of dogs among themselves, a dog park is a benefit to the community. And there are other reasons as well. In our case, it does bring into the area visitors from outside, visitors who frequently stay a while to eat in our restaurants, shop in our stores, and otherwise boost our community finances and tax revenues. Their presence is advantageous to all of us. Perhaps the editorial stance of the Ithaca Times could be reviewed anew.
-Dr. A. N. Feldzamen Ithaca
I read your editorial "A Doggone Long Time" 04/02/2008 with great interest. You stated that "With at least one other dog group (Ithaca Unleashed) being afforded equal treatment, the chance is that the issue will dominate these new rounds of discussions again. But this time, we hope other groups will demand their fair share of the pie - and that Common Council will keep the dog park issue leashed once and for all."
I hope you will Unleash this writer long enough to allow me to express the following comments........ Ithaca Unleashed is a group that advocates off-leash dog parks but many of our members are also birders, environmentalists, boaters, and some of us have even gotten help from and taken Safe Boating Courses from the Coast Guard Auxiliary Volunteers whose headquarters are on Inlet Island. The Department Of Environmental Conservation has owned the Coast Guard building on the Island for over 45 years and allowed the members of the Auxiliary to use the facility rent free. This has enabled the Volunteer members ( they serve with no salary or remuneration) of the Coast Guard Auxiliary to continue their Life Saving mission to our community.
We want them to stay in Ithaca and do what they have always done: educate, rescue, and be there to help us in an emergency. Thus we at Ithaca Unleashed do not see our interests as separate from the other groups represented at the Mayor's Round Table meeting held recently at City Hall. The Mayor held the meeting in order to hear from representatives and interested parties who are so called "stakeholders" in the Festival Lands and Inlet Island.
We are grateful that our State and local representatives paid attention when we wrote to them about our concerns. We applaud the Governor's appointment of Tim Joseph as the new Regional Director of the Finger Lakes State Parks. We appreciate Tim's help in establishing a Dog Park on both the city Festival Lands and State Park property at Treman. I believe that Tim shares our goals for creating a safe and equitable solution for all the groups concerned.
Bren Piller,
Ithacaunleashed.com
Where's the puppy love?
Most American communities are justifiably proud of the recreational facilities they provide, whether municipal, state or readily available commercial facilities. And so we have tennis courts, playing fields for baseball, football, soccer, lacrosse, swimming pools, skating rinks, hiking trails, skateboard parks, playgrounds, various types of boating facilities, and so on, mostly available year round, weather permitting. These are the things that can help make modern life more pleasant and sweet, in the midst of our struggles and strivings. They can provide a most welcome change from the daily grind. And so it is somewhat surprising that the Ithaca Times seems repeatedly to be opposed editorially to one of these types of recreational amenities, a dog park.
Pet ownership is common and widespread in America, and love of dogs and cats often knows no bounds. Cats, being so different from dogs, are not pack animals that benefit from socialization as dogs do. We all know that unattended dogs can wander, cause damage to persons and property, apparently get lost more readily, can be injured or killed by traffic, and so on. For these reasons, and for the joy of human companionship among dog owners as well as the felicitous play of dogs among themselves, a dog park is a benefit to the community. And there are other reasons as well. In our case, it does bring into the area visitors from outside, visitors who frequently stay a while to eat in our restaurants, shop in our stores, and otherwise boost our community finances and tax revenues. Their presence is advantageous to all of us. Perhaps the editorial stance of the Ithaca Times could be reviewed anew.
-Dr. A. N. Feldzamen Ithaca
I read your editorial "A Doggone Long Time" 04/02/2008 with great interest. You stated that "With at least one other dog group (Ithaca Unleashed) being afforded equal treatment, the chance is that the issue will dominate these new rounds of discussions again. But this time, we hope other groups will demand their fair share of the pie - and that Common Council will keep the dog park issue leashed once and for all."
I hope you will Unleash this writer long enough to allow me to express the following comments........ Ithaca Unleashed is a group that advocates off-leash dog parks but many of our members are also birders, environmentalists, boaters, and some of us have even gotten help from and taken Safe Boating Courses from the Coast Guard Auxiliary Volunteers whose headquarters are on Inlet Island. The Department Of Environmental Conservation has owned the Coast Guard building on the Island for over 45 years and allowed the members of the Auxiliary to use the facility rent free. This has enabled the Volunteer members ( they serve with no salary or remuneration) of the Coast Guard Auxiliary to continue their Life Saving mission to our community.
We want them to stay in Ithaca and do what they have always done: educate, rescue, and be there to help us in an emergency. Thus we at Ithaca Unleashed do not see our interests as separate from the other groups represented at the Mayor's Round Table meeting held recently at City Hall. The Mayor held the meeting in order to hear from representatives and interested parties who are so called "stakeholders" in the Festival Lands and Inlet Island.
We are grateful that our State and local representatives paid attention when we wrote to them about our concerns. We applaud the Governor's appointment of Tim Joseph as the new Regional Director of the Finger Lakes State Parks. We appreciate Tim's help in establishing a Dog Park on both the city Festival Lands and State Park property at Treman. I believe that Tim shares our goals for creating a safe and equitable solution for all the groups concerned.
Bren Piller,
Ithacaunleashed.com
Splendid Photos by Jeffrey Foote
Click on photo to enlarge !
Click on photo to enlarge !
-----------------------------------------------------------
Additional photos by Dog Park Advocates-- please send YOUR photos!
For a website for Dog Lovers, click below:
posted by Ithaca Unleashed at
20:15
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