City’s New Off-Leash Rules Criticized: Dog Owners Want More Places for Canines to Frolic

By Jon Gambrell, The Bellingham Herald, Bellingham, Wash.

May 11–In Bellingham, the new battle over parks isn’t north vs. south, it’s dogs vs. children.

A group of dog owners is challenging a set of proposed rules limiting where dogs can be off leash, saying there are as many dogs as children within the city. But city officials and others fear off-leash dogs frighten joggers, children and other users of the city’s many trails and parks.

This issue goes to the core of Bellingham, a city full of Nalgene bottle-carrying voters who pride themselves on its outdoor aesthetics. How do you balance the concerns of joggers pushing off-road strollers against those who want their dogs to run free?

Anara Thomas, president of the Grateful Dogs Off-Leash Association, offered her own ideas Wednesday morning to the city’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. Reading a prepared statement, she questioned why “dogs alone are castigated” by the city’s new policy. Saying Seattle and San Francisco have as many dogs as children, Thomas believes the same to be true in Bellingham, hinting parks should be as dog-friendly as they are child-friendly.

How many children are there to dogs in the city of Bellingham? There are no solid numbers to compare.

There are more than 2,600 registered dogs in the city of Bellingham, said Penny Cistaro, executive director of the Whatcom Humane Society. However, Cistaro stresses there are far more unregistered dogs in the city.

As for children, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated in 2000 there were about 6,700 residents in Bellingham age 14 and younger. But the city has grown since then, probably both in children and dogs.

City parks Director Paul Leuthold said the issue isn’t about numbers, but the safety of all park users in Bellingham.

Leuthold, a jogger, used the example of coming up on an unleashed dog while running alone at Lake Padden Park.

“The owners will say, ‘Don’t worry, my dog won’t hurt you,’ ” he said. “But it already has. My heart is pumping. I’m afraid now because this dog approached me.”

Judy McCarthy, a Bellingham mother, agreed. A dog lover, McCarthy said she stopped bringing her foster children to Squalicum Beach after off-leash dogs frightened them.

“There are so many dogs it’s like a dog attack,” she said. “I’ve got 3-year-olds with me that are hysterical.”

But McCarthy said critiquing a dog owner can bring with it a stream of epithets.

“I can’t tell someone to put their dog on a leash,” she said. “It’s like telling someone their child is a brat.”

Since the new off-leash rules were proposed, Thomas and other Grateful Dog members have protested in front of Bellingham City Hall with picket signs. They want rules rolled back to allow off-leash dogs in former areas, as well as asking for two more dog parks in the city.

With an off-leash area already planned for Squalicum Creek Park, Leuthold said it was unlikely more would be built. And though the dog lobby currently has the loudest bark, he said there were many other special interest groups pitching their desires to the parks department.

“They seem to want more and more faster,” Leuthold said.

Reach Jon Gambrell at jon.gambrell@bellinghamherald.com or call 715-2263.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Bellingham Herald, Bellingham, Wash.

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