In Cambridge, a debate is heating up about out-of-town dogs running offleash and whether they are turning Fresh Pond into a not-so-fresh pond. According to an article in today’s Boston Globe, (registration required to full the Globe article) the Cambridge Water Department wants to ban nonresident pooches from roaming off leash and plans to outfit Cambridge canines with bright red medallions - so the rangers who patrol the park can see which dogs belong and which do not.
Here’s the Fresh Pond debate boiled down:
- Cambridge dogs - Offleash = OK
- Out of Town dogs - Offleash = NOT OK
As far as I know there’s no other public places (except for smaller dog runs) that ban/restrict out of town dogs. Awhile back, I got a nasty email from a resident of North Reading who asked that I remove the North Reading Dog Park from my dog parks list but I don’t think she was acting on behalf of her town. Do you know of any others?
Want to get involved and fight back a bit, have your voice heard?
Here’s a link to Cambridge DOG (Dog owners group). Helen Fairman, who has commented on this site before, is quoted is being against these measures as there’s no evidence that out of town offleash dogs are harming the pond’s environment.
1 response so far ↓
1 Heidi // Jun 4, 2007 at 11:58 am
I think it’s pretty pathetic that they are trying to do this. Talk about elitist attitude. When I lived in Somerville I used to go there and got so mad when I got a ticket. I mean there were always so many empty spots - they really make you feel unwelcome. I spent a lot of $$ in Cambridge when I lived on that side of the pond as I am sure many others did. Makes me not want ot shop in Cambridge at all.
Also, did the re-vamp of that area get federal funding? If so I am unsure if they can do this….
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