Letters to the Editor
In many communities, people write impassioned letters to the editor regarding their feelings about off-leash dogs. Here are just two of our favorites:
Green Dog program makes neighborhood stronger (Brookline):
Brookline’s Green Dog Program enhances the sense of community in our neighborhoods. Community building thrives on the regular contact that cannot be achieved by a yearly party, yard sale or potluck. Not all community building takes place in the schools. The benefits to the community of the Green Dog Program are numerous. We help each other, counsel each other, hire each other’s children, console each other and celebrate with each other. Our dogs are socialized, which reduces aggression. We welcome new neighbors and help people to feel that they belong to a real community.
And another agrees (Northborough):
People, who happen to own dogs, are requesting recreational space where they would have the opportunity to meet friends with a common interest. The features of this project provide the cornerstone to a genuine sense of community. Northborough residents have come to the town with such requests resulting in sports fields, tennis courts, a skateboard park, playgrounds, a water park and most recently a senior center and a library with meeting rooms. The request for an area safe for dogs and their humans that is noninvasive to other town citizens is as logical as the other facilities listed above.
