Dear Editor: Thank you for your front page story entitled “Moms and dogs at odds.” Although I commend you for acknowledging that there is a problem with the amount of space provided for dog owners and their dogs, I disagree that this is a divisive issue between moms and dogs. In fact, we all want the same thing, our fair share of the public parks in Hoboken. As it stands now, over 600 registered dogs (not to mention the unregistered ones) and their owners are forced into three small, ill-maintained, gravel covered dog runs. Let’s do the math; that’s over 200 dogs per run, per day. Now, most dog owners are in the run at least twice a day for an hour at a time, and then their dog returns with a dog walker for a third time. We use these dog runs 365 days a year. The numbers will tell you that dog owners use the parks more than any other group, yet we find ourselves banished from the waterfront parks and every grass area in the other city parks. I can sympathize with mothers whose children have stepped in dog poop, no one likes to clean that stuff off their shoes. However, if there are children coming home “covered in dog feces” (as Irene Sobolov stated in a Jersey Journal article), then who was supervising these children while they rolled in dog poop? Is there an ordinance against unsupervised children? Well, there should be. My point is this, if the problem is dog poop on the grass, then we should combat the problem head on, instead of simply banning hundreds of Hoboken taxpayers and their dogs from city parks. I suggest: 1. Being responsible dog owners and cleaning up after our own dogs as well as others. 2. Raise the fines for those of us who don’t comply to at least $200 (now it’s $25.) 3. The city needs to sanitize the dog runs on a regular basis, so more people will be inclined to use them. 4. Designate some grass areas in every city park as dog-friendly, and other grass areas as dog-free. 5. Most importantly, respect each other and the fact that we are all taxpaying, voting citizens in this town that deserve equal rights and access to the city parks, with or without our dogs! The ordinances that exist right now are discriminatory against dog owners and need to be changed. If you are interested in helping this cause, join the Hoboken Dog Association, www.hobokendogs.org. This association is working diligently to raise awareness about responsible dog ownership, maybe they deserve an article! Hopefully we will have some “grass for everyone!” Thanks for listening. Stephanie Borgese (Hoboken resident, taxpayer, voter and responsible dog owner)