Meeting with Susan Buckley from PAWS
Susan Buckley from P.A.W.S. contacted me on 9/20 and we arranged a meeting to view the problem with unleashed dogs in the Wildflower Meadow and the Loch on 9/27. Attending were Regina Alvarez and Maria Hernandez from the Conservancy and Susan Buckley and Mia Nitchun from PAWS.
Below is Susan's e-mail outlining what was discussed and the actions being taken. We all agreed that enforcement was the key. More on that in an upcoming blog.
Below is Susan's e-mail outlining what was discussed and the actions being taken. We all agreed that enforcement was the key. More on that in an upcoming blog.
Dear Cal:
Thank you for taking the time to meet with Mia Nitchun and me, dog owners from Central Park PAWS, along with the Conservancy team. I feel that the meeting was a successful beginning--not because we came up with instant solutions to a very complicated problem but because we began what I hope will be a successful collaboration in problem solving.
It was a memorable delight for me to see the Wildflower Meadow, which I'd never seen before and to realize again what a different park the north Park is from the Great Lawn area that I frequent.
As you and the Conservancy supervisors and gardeners agreed, most dog owners do leash their dogs and do not disturb the wildlife or the terrain. A small percentage of dog owners disregard the law at will, usually AFTER the 9 am leash time. To address the larger number of dogowners, however, some education will help to ensure that they understand just where woodland areas are and what they contain. To this end, the Conservancy will post informational signs at the entrances to woodland areas and in particularly delicate spots such as the Wildflower Meadow. PAWS will work with Regina Alvarez, the woodlands adviser, to prepare a flyer that will include a map of woodland areas and explanations of the importance of keeping your dog onleash. Area supervisors and zone gardeners will have these flyers and PAWS members also will assist in distributing them.
As you noted and we all agreed, the real stumbling block in solving the problem of illegally offleash dogs is the very small but very tough group of people who don't care what the law is and don't care that they are harming the environment. This segment of society is not unique to the dog world; there are people who don't care in every aspect of our lives.
The greatest challenge in solving this part of the problem is enforcement, because there are only 7 Parks Enforcement Police officers for all of Manhattan. Importantly, the newly proposed changes to the Health Code would in fact strengthen enforcement potential. In addition to giving the Parks Commissioner the right to make individual rulings for different parks, the amendment would impose much steeper fines for breaking laws such as have a dog offleash in woodland areas.
The small minority of dog owners who are breaking these laws now do not care whether there is an offleash law or not. We have every reason to believe that they will break the law no matter what the offleash code says. The focus for change should be on enforcement against these lawbreakers, not on punishing the vast majority of dog owners who abide by the rules.
I hope that we can work together both to educate all park users about the incredible wildlife treasures in Central Park and to strengthen enforcement of the already existing rules.
Sincerely,
Susan Buckley
President, Central Park PAWS
