San Mateo, CA: Dog-leash enforcement picks up (not BSL)

http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?id=115017

Dog-leash enforcement picks up

August 17, 2009, 10:31 PM

By Bill Silverfarb

Daily Journal

San Mateo is stepping up enforcement efforts regarding dogs off-leash in the city’s parks, according to Sheila Canzian, director of Parks and Recreation.

The department is receiving a large number of contacts from park users to rangers complaining about dogs off leash and safety concerns, according to a letter written to a concerned resident by Canzian.

In May, an off-leash pit bull savagely attacked a 12-year-old whippet owned by Joan Silvers in downtown San Mateo’s Central Park, an incident Canzian called a tragedy.

Parks and recreation workers posted multiple signs in Central Park and other city parks informing dog owners of the city’s leash law.

“Unless there is a ranger in the park all the time I don’t know how they can enforce the leash law,” Silvers said.

Three months after Silvers’ dog was put down, she finally got a new puppy this past Sunday, a Cavalier King Charles named Daphne. But it will be a while before Silvers feels comfortable bringing her dog to the park.

Silvers lives right across the street from Central Park at the Gramercy Apartments. She was about to return home with her whippet named Ragtime in May when the pit bull charged her dog and mauled it. Ragtime was euthanized days later.

The 2-year-old pit bull initially labeled dangerous after attacking Ragtime was re-classified vicious and Peninsula Humane Society officials said it should be euthanized. The owner asked for a hearing and a county hearing officer upheld the humane society’s position. The owner, however, has since filed a writ of mandate with the Superior Court. The pit bull is still being held three months after the incident.

“It’s sort of an indefinite process,” said the Humane Society’s Scott Delucchi.

Canzian is hoping dog owners will comply with the law and said the department is considering opening up some parks early in the morning for dogs to roam off-leash.

The city has also received lots of complaints about owners who do not clean up after their dogs.

“One group may be fastidious about cleaning up after their dogs within the ballfield and if that were the case for all users, we wouldn’t receive complaints from parents, coaches and others whose children often encounter messes while playing games,” Canzian responded to a concerned resident by e-mail. “Our greatest concern is for the safety of all our park patrons and unfortunately, the law does not distinguish between trained and untrained dogs, friendly versus aggressive or responsible from non-responsible dog owners.”

The city will start more aggressively issuing citations to dog owners who are caught with dogs off-leash, according to Canzian.

Bill Silverfarb can be reached by e-mail: silverfarb@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 106.