dog green

Re: “Dogs and cyclists can mix,” Editorial, May 6.
Calgary’s pathways closely hug the Bow for most of its length from Fort Calgary on south. The exception is Southland Park which is one of the few areas where off-leash dogs are allowed into the river. So all the recreational users cited in your editorial (cyclists, hikers and runners) have much more access to the Bow than do off-leash dogs. When an off-leash dog west of the proposed pathway in Southland smells water on a hot day, it’ll make a beeline toward the river. Dogs must be under control at all times, but having to leash dogs to cross that pathway will cause far more inconvenience to far more citizens than would routing the pathway to the west of the off-leash area. I think it’s other recreational users who should, as the editorial writer so eloquently put it, “stop crying a river and start sharing the green space.” Dog owners are citizens, pay taxes and licence fees and are entitled to use a fair share of Calgary’s green spaces — and not just the steep hills or berms beside busy roads which no other user group wants.

canada.com


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