[MissoulaGov] Survey: Dog owners disregard leash-laws

[Jeremy Hood]

You realize you are presenting a situation where people will have to drive places to let their dogs off their leash? Plus how many dogs have you encountered, now wager that one out of all of those dogs has ever done anything to you. 

Your mentality is that of - "as far as we know a middle eastern country attacked us, let us invade all of them so no one else gets carried away" - preemptive decisions based on an isolated incident and the assumption of any story that the person/s did not deserve it. 

If people ignore the law as is now, and people are just concerned about that, a law not serving it's purpose, so we should pretend it does, why not just repeal it. Repealing a law that has no affect, and no need, to avoid liability issues is just smart. I would wager you are nuts if you think one out of thousands of dogs causes some sort of trouble could of been an avoiding situation because of the law. The law serves the purpose of "keeping the honest people honest" at the very best. Which in law form is just telling people what to do because you can, not because it realistically is going to stop anything; people will commit acts with or without the word of law being present. 

Plus do you really want a bunch of police men on the trail all times of the day? I rarely use it but that would make me never want to use it. I am not a fan of the "because I said so" authoritarian rule that work based on fear. Trails have appeal because they are friendly, more in touch with the living environment places, not because of bureaucratic problems, ones that are created because of bureaucracy and enforced by bureaucratic officers. Who wants to pay money for all of that when we have more pressing issues?

You know the road is always open to you are your bicycle, constitutionally, and if you feel it is unsafe well there is a real concern. If you are stuck on the trail people are recreationly enjoying, and you are trying to turn it into a highway, because the alternative is life threatening (dogs rarely are, you would just about have to lay down dead for most dogs to kill you) then maybe you should look at the life threatening situation. Why not improve something you have to inevitably use, or others do, because trails do not go everywhere, instead of making a big fuss about something you are worried about, not actually confronting. 





> Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2009 14:51:16 -0700

> From: sherri at davidoffsecurity.com

> To: thepoe at hotmail.com

> CC: missoulagov at cmslists.com

> Subject: Re: [MissoulaGov] Survey: Dog owners disregard leash-laws

> 

> Last summer while rollerblading I was chased down by a dog and bitten on 

> the leg. Every day I commute by bicycle down by the river trail, and 

> almost all of the dogs are unleashed. I like dogs, but on popular trails 

> where there are lots of people, pedestrians have legitimate concerns and 

> it makes sense to leash them. There are off-trail places with fewer 

> people where they can roam.

> 

> Pedestrians and commuters shouldn't have to worry about whether a dog is 

> always as well-behaved as their owner thinks. For me, this is a daily 

> concern.

> 

> Sherri

> 

> 

> Jeremy Hood wrote:

> > Does this really need to be brought up again? If people really have the 

> > time to complain about something so stupid that is not a serious issue 

> > then I feel I can demand stupid stuff too.

> > 

> > How about children must be on a leash, and every time they drop any food 

> > or anything on their person that is not in a trash receptacle they are 

> > fined $50 1st, $100 second, $200 third.

> > 

> > No spitting on sidewalks, $50 fine. Sneezes must be covered, $25 fine. 

> > Neighbors are not allowed to park in front my house and block my view of 

> > their house, $100 fine.

> > 

> > I am running short on stupid ideas, anyone help me out? All I can think 

> > about is discussing changes that will remove people from life 

> > threatening danger, allow people to live in town that function in town, 

> > keeping our open space, and all sorts of things, but not stupid.

> > 

> >  > Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2009 10:35:32 -0700

> >  > From: russ at matr.net

> >  > To: missoulagov at cmslists.com

> >  > Subject: [MissoulaGov] Survey: Dog owners disregard leash-laws

> >  >

> >  > *Survey: Dog owners disregard leash-laws

> >  > <http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2009/02/09/news/000dogs.txt>

> >  > http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2009/02/09/news/000dogs.txt

> >  >

> >  >

> >  > > Connie Lien, Bozeman’s animal control officer, said the city tickets

> >  > > an estimated 20 to 50 dog owners each month for leash violations.

> >  > > A ticket for a leash violation costs $50 for a first offense, $100 for

> >  > > a second offense and $200 for a third offense.

> >  > >

> >  > > Failure to clean up after a dog is a $50 to $100 ticket.

> >  >

> >  > How many tickets are written in Missoula and how are they resolved? Does

> >  > everyone pay the fines?

> >  >

> >  >

> >  >

> >  > *

> >  >

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