Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Hey Dog Walkers

The heat is on! Animal-control officials are ticketing off-leash dogs in the Northern-- we've heard of tickets being given out to owners at Wyman Park, Ston(e)y Run and Robert E. Lee. Fines start at $100 per dog and can go up to $1,000 for repeat offenses.
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10 comments:

Unknown said...

Thank god!!! I feel so much safer now. Maybe once the police get done with the unleashed dogs, they can deal with the heroine dealers by elementary school up the block.

Tue Apr 07, 11:47:00 AM EDT
charles said...

I'm glad they have the violent crimes all cleaned up in Baltimore and can now go after those damn dogs!

Tue Apr 07, 01:41:00 PM EDT
Unknown said...

Will they please come to Patterson Park, so I can maybe walk my elderly dog there without him being attacked? Or without seeing a kid get bit? Or another dog attacked by a pack of off-lead dogs?

Tue Apr 07, 03:44:00 PM EDT
Unknown said...

Good. Selfish stupid and lazy dog owners should be fined. The dangers to people, especially children are not of interest to most dog owners, so enforcement is a must. You want violent crime? Dog bites are the leading cause for childrens visits to emergency rooms.

Tue Apr 07, 04:31:00 PM EDT
buzoncrime said...

Jennifer and Charles---Animal Control officers are not part of the police department, have separate duties, are not armed, and can't/don't investigate drugs or violent crimes (except against animals).

I don't think there are any heroin dealers near the elementary schools in the areas MJB cites in her post.

Because we have a lot of violent crime and drugs are not reasons to enforce any or all of the other laws to make this a reasonably livable city. The tone of your posts suggests that until drug-trafficking and violent crime is stopped, no other laws should be enforced, e.g. traffic, parking, housing, sanitation, etc. "Officer, why the speeding ticket? Don't you know hundreds of people are killed in Baltimore each year?"

As David reports, hundreds of dog bites occur in the city each year--many of children, and many owners don't get licenses or shots. Rabies is a very serious threat, and the shots are onerous. Baltimore has very few Animal Control Officers, so enforcement is sporadic; generally the police have better things to do.

And many dog owners do not pick up after their pets. Several years ago, Robert E. Lee park had to be closed because the soil fecal level was so high that it was unsafe for children to play in. So, the city spent many thousands of dollars on resurfacing.

MJB saw the post, I guess, in the Roland Park e-newsletter; there was a hint of a suggestion that the city should be email blasted for the "ridiculous, awful" law. (the author suggested that people could blast if the law was too lenient, also-heh heh, sure).

Everyone should know that leashes are required for dogs in the city, and that with few exceptions, they cannot "run free as God intended". You need a large yard, or choose to live in a rural area.

Lissa is the second person who has reported dogs running loose in Patterson Park causing a problem.

Tue Apr 07, 05:56:00 PM EDT
Kirk Mantay said...

Exactly! What child has ever been harmed by a crack dealer or a junkie in Baltimore?

Dog waste is a big part of water pollution in the City, which can't be overlooked. BUT in a city where no one bats an eye if less than 300 human beings are murdered per year...and where the BPD are stretched at every turn...you gotta wonder if our tax dollars are being spent appropriately.

Wed Apr 08, 12:34:00 AM EDT
Ben said...

Thank christ. I've seen several dogs run over by cars on the museum side of Wyman Park. Bad dog owners.

Wed Apr 08, 11:50:00 AM EDT
buzoncrime said...

Swamp Thing---Actually, reducing homicides and shootings is THE PRIORITY of the Dixon/Bealefeld administration. Depending on who you talk to the Violent Crime Impact Division has between 200-400 officers (pick a number in the middle if you want) and their main role is rolling up the "real bad guys". Every police district now has only 160 officers assigned to it to facilitate that staffing there--no matter how large or small or troubled the district is. Now, a rough minimum of cost for this VCID effort (old figures) is about a $million for each 30 police officers, at a MINIMUM. So, one can figure how much the city is "prioritizing", budget-wise, to control this private civil war, mostly happening in about 4 square miles of the city. And it sometimes spills out into the nicer areas of the city, e.g. Fells Point, Federal Hill, et.al.

One can argue with the success of the effort, or their tactics, but there is only so much the police department can do. The real failure is the inability or unwillingness by various players in the criminal justice system to place under control through incarceration those extremely dangerous, vicious repeat offenders.

Best wishes for you efforts to save the environment, my friend.

Wed Apr 08, 03:00:00 PM EDT
Aimee said...

Dog bites as the leading cause for children's visits to the ER? Can you provide a link to support that because your findings don't ring true with the CDC, as this study evidences. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr007.pdf

If you don't want to read through the report, you can read a summary for the leading causes for ER visits for one of the demographics from the CDC study here: http://blog.healia.com/tags/er .

And an interesting article from Pediatics about how most dog bites to children occur at home and how many dog bites could be prevented by parents educating their children. "Out of 100 accidents, 67 children might not have been bitten had they and their parents been adequately educated on safe conduct towards dogs."
http://www.springerlink.com/content/jk3tjm3e2vk3yvm4/

Wed Apr 08, 07:54:00 PM EDT
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