Irresponsible Pet Owners Ruin It For Others

Originally from New York, I have enjoyed being a North Carolina resident since 2004. When it comes to pets, one of the big differences between the two locales is the level of “pet friendliness.”

For example, on Long Island in New York, there are very few places where you can bring your dog. Even on a leash, the majority of parks do not allow pets. This makes it very difficult to enjoy the outdoors with your dog and family at the same time. Visions of packing a picnic lunch and going on a hike with your dog and kids are quickly squelched by these restrictions on pets in public.

The reason? Irresponsible pet owners. Those who have ruined it for others by not cleaning up after their dog, allowing disobedient pets to run off-leash, and even bringing ill pets to public areas, causing outbreaks of diseases such as resistant strains of Leptospirosis.

Here in North Carolina, I see people being so much more able to enjoy their pets as a part of the family. Most pet supply stores welcome their canine shoppers and almost all parks allow leashed dogs. With convenient “doggy pick-up” stations containing baggies for cleaning up after your pet and some parks even having dog water bowls built into the bottoms of their water fountains, pet enthusiasts are able to enjoy outings that include their whole family.

However, in spite of these conveniences, I occasionally witness irresponsible pet owners not cleaning up after their dogs, letting off-leash pets jump on others at the park, and other behaviors that reduce enjoyment of the park for the general public. When I see this, I get angry on behalf of the entire pet community… if enough of this continues, we too may see laws become so restrictive as to exclude our pets from the majority of public places.

If we all work together, we can keep our area pet-friendly. Let’s be sure to all bring plastic baggies with us when we take our dogs out, and use them. Keep dogs on a leash unless you are specifically in an area where off-leash pets are permitted and your dog behaves dependably well-mannered. Hopefully, ten years from now, we will all still be able to go to the park with our dogs and kids for a nice hike and a picnic.