Wag and Woof

I'll preface this by saying that I really do like cats AND dogs. This letter was on the opinion page of today's Gloucester Daily Times.
If you can't read the print on the blog page, hover and click to enlarge....

In the four years that I walked delivering newspapers in the TOWN of Rockport, I was bitten at twice by dogs that were in a neighboring yard to their own, jumped on and followed numerous times down one street by a pair of mean cocker spaniels, and had to stop delivering the paper to a customer because his neighbor's dog would come after me if I tried to pass by on the right of way. Yay, when that neighbor finally moved and boo when the new owners had a dog that was even worse. If I got near the end of the right of way it would come after me.

Pet ownership comes with responsibilities. Seems a whole lot of folks don't think it should. Yes, I know many wonderful pet owners who DO take good care of their animals and don't shirk the inherent duties.

However...the rules are too vague and not enforced until matters are far out of hand. Sorry, Mindy, maybe the pay isn't great or the workload is too heavy, but as dog officer, well, more needs to be done. Maybe we need some stiff fines for blatant offenders. I can readily supply some names.

While we're at it...how about a poop scooping law? With so many dogs in Rockport, just walking the sidewalks can be a challenging obstacle course. Speaks poorly for our quaint town and smells bad too.

Not only should the lease law be uniform, it should be enforced. Dog owner's personal freedom should not be detrimental to mine.