LEASH LAWS LACK TEETH
Owners – not dogs – in need of obedience training!

By Ann Hauprich

Before my family moved to a dead-end street in a lakeside neighborhood governed by the Town of Malta last fall, my college-aged daughters made sure their dogs complied with all municipal statutes concerning canines.

It was doggone reassuring to know that the law included provisions for dogs to be leashed when in public areas and to be otherwise restrained should a leashed canine and its walker need to pass safely by their properties. Our family further understood it be illegal to permit one’s dog to drop “gifts” for others to step in while walking along the road or playing in the nearby parks. Since Tara and Marie were already in the habit of walking their dogs on leashes and using plastic bags to scoop up their messes, they assumed that fellow dog owners would routinely do the same. Another assumption was that they would be treated with courtesy and respect as they embarked upon twice daily walks with their tail-wagging companions – one of whom is a certified therapy dog who recently earned a Good Canine Citizen citation; the other a champion agility dog.

It soon became clear, however, that the existing leash laws lack teeth and that nothing short of obedience classes for dog owners may be required if the laws governing this issue are to be taken seriously by those who now make a mockery of such legislation.

As it is, responsible pet owners who strive to abide by laws governing canine conduct often find themselves in the doghouse – rather than the other way around. Adding insult to the actual physical injuries that have been sustained by my daughters and their pets as they have committed the “crime” of trying to protect their leashed dogs from those running at large are the biting comments they have heard along the way from dog owners who openly defy the law.

To date, they’ve encountered more than a dozen different unleashed canines -- from menacing mutts to growling pedigrees -- with the result that they avoid a number of streets in the neighborhood completely and carry pepper spray for self-defense on others. Hesitant to hound the local animal control officer about each and every infraction they have witnessed, Tara and Marie have called for intervention only under the most dire of circumstances – as when a Rottweiler repeatedly came charging out into the street as they attempted to walk by its property. In this case, the dog’s owner hurled profanities at the daughter who is not yet out of her teens and threatened to “shoot” her and our dogs if they ever ventured close to her property again – something that’s nigh on impossible to do when you live on a dead-end street and have no other way out!

Calling in the authorities resulted in an oft repeated comment that “dogs have always run loose in this part of the community.” Why, demanded one long-time resident, were we intent on rocking the boat by making a big deal out of something as simple “one dog wanting to sniff the rear end of another.”

After that incident, my daughters started transporting their dogs several miles back and forth to Congress Park in Saratoga Springs for daily exercise. As their respective schedules at Russell Sage and Siena College became more time-consuming, however, there was no recourse but to resume neighborhood walks. During one of their first return outings, the therapy canine was bitten on the face by a dog running loose near the neighborhood park. When the owner caught up with his pet, he made light of the situation and wondered what all the fuss was about. Upon being reminded of the bylaws concerning the subject, he became indignant and suggested that his smaller dog could not possibly have posed a threat to the larger animal. True. There’s a chance that, if cut loose from her leash following the attack, our Good Canine Citizen might have been tempted to retaliate. But then my daughter would have been accused of being an irresponsible pet owner and our gentle giant would have been labeled a vicious dog. (I believe eller called this “Catch 22.”)

The other dog was subsequently lunged at by a different canine while I was walking him in the vicinity of the nearest park. Mere words cannot describe the terror of attempting to restrain a leashed dog during an attack by one that is running at large. The leashed animal’s instinct is, of course, to fight back or, failing that, to break free and chase the animal that has attacked it. As the one caught in the middle, I definitely feared being mauled. The offending dog’s owner arrived on the scene only after the fur had flown and proceeded to downplay the incident. The thought of summoning the animal control officer certainly came to mind, but considering the aftermath of the report concerning the Rottwelier, I opted to hold the phone. Reality really does bite sometimes.

My kids want to move, but how can I promise them things will be any better in a new neighborhood? The hard lesson these young adults have learned is that while the existing laws clearly prohibit dogs from running at large and/or behaving in a manner that poses a menace to the safety of persons or domestic animals, the statutes are only as strong as the support they receive at every level in the community.

Although I have tried to remind my offspring that there was once an era when you didn't get a ticket if you failed to click it as well as a time when second-hand smoke was permitted to contaminate the air in restaurants, it’s clear to see I am barking up the wrong tree. Those once controversial laws are now routinely complied with because they were taken seriously by society as a whole.

As with the issues of seat belts and second-hand smoke, the solution surely lies neither in repeatedly begging the authorities to intervene nor in rolling over and allowing others to trample upon the rights of law-abiding citizens. Rather it lies in educating the public about why such laws are necessary and teaching dog owners to master new tricks if they are to remain licensed canine masters!