Nothing seems to get a rise out of the public these days like the issue of where dogs can and can’t walk. At a recent Hoboken City Council meeting, more than 60 residents sat on their hands and mostly kept their mouths closed while the legislative body debated rent control amendments and pay raises. But when a dog owner – who said he was representing a newly-formed group of local pooch-enthusiasts – approached the council and suggested that perhaps the city could give man’s best friend a little more space in its parks, all hell nearly broke loose. City ordinances currently ban dog owners from bringing their pets to any of the waterfront parks. The regulations also say that owners can not linger with their dogs in the city’s inland parks as they march to one of the city’s three rock-strewn dog runs. And finally, the regulations state that under no circumstances are the dogs allowed on the grass. Dog owners say that enforcement has been stepped up recently, and they’ve decided to do something about it. They’ve formed the Hoboken Dog Association, and they’ve been meeting in the parks, raising funds and writing letters to try and build the political muscle necessary to take some of the teeth out of regulations. But a group of mothers who take their children to the parks is tired of dog feces in the grass, and they want their say, too. Bad feces “To be fair, we should be able to share the park with the people of this town,” said dog owner Peter Cunningham at the council meeting July 10. “I would like to be able to go to the waterfront with my dog and my family. But because of these regulations, dog owners are being pushed to smaller and smaller places.” Cunningham quickly found out that it was not the dogs that people were worried about – it was what comes out of their rear ends. “We have to bring a change of clothes [for our kids] to the park when we go because the feces are really bad,” explained Irene Sobolov, to the “un-huhs” of fellow mothers, at the meeting. “We have to clean it off their clothes, off their hair and out of their hands all the time.” Sobolov has formed a group of more than 100 mothers who frequent Elysian Park with their kids. One of their chief concerns is that the police don’t keep dogs off the grass and out of the park more, she said. City Councilwoman Theresa Castellano told dog-owner Cunningham, “We know that you are a responsible dog owner, but behind you there are eight or nine or 10 irresponsible ones.” Cunningham and the Association aren’t asking for a full-blown repeal of the regulations, he argued. Like Rodney Dangerfield, all they want is a little respect. “I understand about children,” Cunningham said. “I want to raise a family here. But there are parts of the parks – maybe on the periphery of the grass – where dogs could be allowed.” A series of fellow dog owners followed Cunningham to the microphone, pointing out over and over again that they pay taxes and that they consider their dogs to be a part of their families. They said that the stones in the dog runs are too hard and hurt some of the pooches’ feet. Some owners even showed home made maps of local parks complete with colored-in, grass-filled sections that could be made dog-accessible. Simple math suggests that Cunningham may be right about the lack of space for dogs. Right now, more than 600 dogs are registered with the city. If every dog in town were registered, there would be more than 200 dogs per dog run. Evenings can become very busy at these fenced-in dog-filled areas. The unmistakable odor of urine permeated the air around the dog walk at Church Square Park Tuesday night where Michele Anderson was letting her dog stretch its legs. “The dog run is just a toilet bowl for our dogs,” she said. “We are out here 365 days a year. Sometimes three or four times a day and this is all we have. We use the parks the most, and we can’t even go on the grass.” Jennifer Cunningham, Peter’s wife, was nearby playing with her two Bernese mountain dogs, Barney and Marco. Cause for paws “The city has chosen to enforce this from the wrong angle,” she explained. “They need to enforce the pooper-scooper laws. That’s the problem. As dog owners, we don’t like stepping in poop either.” Although a throng of dog owners gathered around Cunningham and Anderson echoing their concerns, not everybody who owns a dog is unhappy with the regulations. One uptown resident said he was perfectly content strolling around the streets with his dog and he had no need for more space in the parks. “I understand why they don’t let dogs on the grass in the parks,” explained Michael Steinberg while he walked around town with his bulldog Oscar. “I understand that kids play there. And I really have a problem when people don’t clean up after their dogs. But we don’t really go the parks much.” Based on the less-than-positive reaction that Cunningham received when he broached the subject with the City Council last Wednesday, it looks like dog owners have some work to do if they hope to bend the laws more in their favor. In the meantime, it appears that at least some political activists in town may try and latch onto the issue to score their own political points in their ongoing battles with Mayor Anthony Russo over the way the city is run. “This is a false issue,” explained Michael Lenz, a one-time school board member who is a vocal critic of the mayor, last week. “The problem isn’t parents, of which I am one, or dog owners, of which my son desperately hopes to be. It’s that there is not enough space for anybody. If we don’t build more open space, we are all going to be at each other’s throats. This is not something where there are sides. The enemy is not the dog owners. It’s not the kids. The enemy is the people who build more housing and don’t build any open space.” Hoboken isn’t the only place in which such an issue is erupting, and the timing may be a result of the overall increased population and development in Hudson County. Jersey City is experiencing a similar battle involving dog-owners. Last month, that city introduced an ordinance that would ban dogs from defecating and urinating in some downtown public parks. The ordinance followed a survey asking whether dogs should be allowed in the parks at all. After protests, the ordinance was withdrawn. It faces an uncertain future. While the politics in Hoboken get sorted out, dog owners are going to continue to walk their furry friends in the limited spaces they are provided and dream of a time when more may be available to them. “You get very attached to these dogs,” explained Eliza Sutnick of Hoboken. “It’s like they become another member of your family. All we want to do is spend a weekend in the park with our families. That does not seem like too much to ask.”
Moms and dogs at odds; Pet owners square off with parents over lack of space in parks
