Hubert Blog

Come Along Park

I've written before about my favorite park, which, I'll grant, is actually called Emma Long Park, but I like my name better. One day, a couple of months ago, some guy handed the buddies a piece of paper, and explained that the powers that be were thinking of making it not a dog park anymore. The paper had the email address of the administrator who would make the decision. The buddies promised to send email, but I was worried (considering that beta buddy jumped in the water with the paper in her back pocket, I don't think my concern was un-merited).[1]

Alpha buddy did send mail, but George and Marquis and I read it, and we thought it was lame. So, we sent a much better letter from his account. (Alpha buddy didn't think it was the least bit odd that he got *two* responses to one piece of email, one very brief and the other much longer.) Shortly after that, beta buddy took me and George (she only takes two of us when she goes alone--don't know why), and we saw all sorts of buddies working on the trail, putting up signs, and various things. George was barking at them a lot, trying to explain to them that they should keep it a dog park. I told him they don't understand Bark, but he said it was worth trying. Beta buddy was babbling like a lunatic the way she does when George barks at people (which isn't all that often--his barking, not her babbling; she babbles a lot). Then, we ran into someone who explained that the decision was to keep it an off-leash dog park, but to block some of the side trails to prevent erosion and protect endangered species. So, George didn't bark at them anymore after that.

Still and all, it seems weird to me. I understand about not wanting dogs to run off into the woods and chase birds, but I don't understand their concern about erosion. The trail is eroding--that's absolutely true. But it's eroding because it gets a lot of use! Isn't that a good thing? Isn't that a sign that it's popular and needed? The other thing I find puzzling is that they put up signs that say something like, "Access prohibited due to endangered species protection. Violation will result in fines." So, does that mean that they know dogs can read?



[1] In her defense, I will grant that she jumped in the water because Marquis had fallen in a fairly deep part of the creek, and was--in sheer panic--failing to scramble back out.

posted by Hubert @ 10:37 AM