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Use of parks by both dog owners and non-dog owners has been a contentious issue, I am betting, since the Stone Age. In the more than 30 years I have been in my Toronto neighbourhood, however, it has always been possible to work out a compromise. Responsible dog owners policed non-responsible ones, canine and human litter was picked up and requests to move were respected.
Our dog park is a large green oasis stretching almost from Yonge Street on its east and Avenue Road on the west, and protected by two dead end streets to the north and south. But it is more than a place for our canine pals: It is large enough for two playground areas, a city wading pool, a baseball and soccer field, with open park space in between, and the greenery atop a small hill conceals a fence along adjacent train tracks. Our park is the site of community celebrations and occasions of all manner: family gatherings, picnics, memorial tributes to departed residents, birthday parties and athletic contests. Our park has seen it all!
Dog owners have held their share of dog birthday parties, inviting all the neighbourhood children who think it's a riot. The annual dog Halloween costume night brings out families, children of all ages and even one grandfather flying in from Texas as he simply could not believe his daughter's description of the event without seeing it with his own eyes. Children would interact with adults who were not part of their family, retired neighbours met up with young adults just beginning their careers, toddlers and teens got to meet and mingle as friends. In the dog park, everyone was equal regardless of age, gender, income or status. Conversations were as diverse as the participants. And above all, neighbourhood children got introduced to a lifelong love of animals in a welcoming, controlled and responsible setting.
But all that has changed now.
Our park is not a legal "off-leash" park (it's too close to a school and so Toronto bylaws prevent it). We self-regulate amongst ourselves, and, for the most part, negligent dog owners are chastised and encouraged to do the right thing, to leash an aggressive dog, to leash up if children are nearby and anxious, to remove their dog if families are using park or even to remove their dog immediately if necessary. It has worked with minor blips for more than 30 years.
However, we've learned that some local residents are upset about our dogs running free. One calls the City Bylaw officers every time she sees us in the park with our dogs off leash. This is changing our park, our community.
As we walked our dogs in the park, we'd watch out for children, houses and property and reported suspicious activity. We could do that because we knew who belonged. When your daughter, sister, mother, grandmother, teen, walked through the park early in the morning or on a dark January night, we were often around to keep an eye out and make sure they passed through safely. Dog owners are "on the ground" daily regardless of weather or season. We help your children up when they fall off their bikes and congratulate them on their first solo ride, we know who should be picking them up or minding them. We also know who doesn't belong in our park.
In at least three instances that I can recall, we have called the police about suspicious activity in our park – in particular when we noticed a stranger sitting too close for comfort to the children's play area. In one case, we called police every night for three weeks and stayed as a barrier between the stranger and the children until and after police arrived. It took that long to get that person to move on, and we were there, vigilant the whole time with everyone's best interests uppermost in our minds. That's a community.
Once, brush by the train track was set on fire and dog owners in the park that day called it in immediately, then stayed to direct firefighters quickly and help stop the fire from spreading to nearby houses, the school and the park.
We were a community that watched out for each other. But now, someone has attacked and changed our community.
I am deeply disappointed that some of my neighbours do not see the value that we, the dog owners, bring every day to our community and our park. We aren't freeloaders – we all pay taxes, and we are your neighbours.
Yes, it is not an off-leash park, but I would have hoped that the killjoys would have opened a dialogue with us rather than calling a City Bylaw officer every time we set foot in our park, because yes, it is our park, too. Why couldn't we talk first?
When a young boy breaks every branch of newly planted saplings, we don't ban all boys from the park. When young adults after a night of alcoholic indulging, vomit in the park on their way home, we don't ban all young adults. So why are you attacking the neighbourhood dog owners? Some of life's most valuable lessons, irrespective of age, are learning to talk, share and compromise.
What was a caring, cohesive and connected community, a rare village within the megacity, might just be lost forever, razed to nothing, all without a bulldozer.
My home has an unobstructed view of the park. Sadly, now when I look out at it every night – it's empty. I might have to find a new community.
Eve Giannini lives in Toronto