Dear Editor:
All residents of Hoboken have a right to use its public spaces for their enjoyment and relaxation. However, some dog owners seem to fail to understand that how their dogs defecate denies everyone else of that right. The objectionable dog owners fall into two categories. First, those that allow their dogs to defecate wherever they please (both owner and dog) and then fail to clean up after the fact, that this is unacceptable in an urban, densely populated area is so obvious as not to need discussion. Second, those owners that allow their dogs to defecate on the grass or dirt areas of the public parks, and then clean up after the dog. However, the fact that it is impossible to remove completely feces from grass and dirt surfaces seems to escape these owners. And the number of times that I, my children, my friends and their children, have come upon this residue of dog waste, have accidentally stepped, played and wrestled in it, is beyond count.
Obviously, most dog owners are responsible members of the community who properly curb and clean up after their dogs, and I have nothing against dog owners in general (in fact, an ongoing topic of discussion in our household is whether we should get a dog.) However, there is a distinct minority of dog owners that behave in a manner that is entirely irresponsible, selfish and truly maddening to the rest of Hoboken. In fact, these dog owners who are spoiling our parks are violating the law. However, the emotions that rise up in these dog owners when challenged, when what they must perceive to be some “freedom of defecation” is questioned, can be truly alarming. When I have tried, the result is invariably an unpleasant verbal altercation that has elicited choice curses from dog owners and pearls of wisdom such as “Why don’t your children play in the dog run.”
In fact, I understand that the members of the Department of Health have the right to ticket dog owners who do not properly curb their dogs, but are not willing to do so unless given the right to bear arms due to some unpleasant experiences. Consequently, I call on Mayor Roberts and the Hoboken Police Department to make an effort to enforce the law. I believe a few summonses are all that it will take. To achieve that end, the Hoboken Police Department must make a proactive effort, 15 to 30 minutes a day focusing on enforcing the relevant ordinances in the parks is probably all that it would take. We all have a right to enjoy the public places of Hoboken, those with dogs, those with children, those with both, and those with neither. Let’s not let a selfish minority literally spoil our parks. Mayor Roberts and the Hoboken Police Department, you must enforce the existing laws, otherwise, it is only a matter of time before something ugly and avoidable takes place in one of our parks.
Matthew Esptein