Dogs too need nature, trees, parks and beaches in order to be healthy, and humans need animals for emotional well-being. Both pets and wildlife enhance our lives. How sad when municipalities ban dogs from public nature-space. Many apartment dwellers who can’t have dogs at home enjoy watching other folks’ dogs at play.
Ballad of the Banned Dog
If you go down to the beach today you’re in for disappointments. If you like dogs and watching them play, you’ll notice a sudden absence.
You might see frisbees, herons and crabs and bodies stretched out on sand, you’ll see toned thighs and shoulders and abs, but poodles and bulldogs are banned. You’ll see the gosling, goose and gander but no gaggle of dogs in a row, or jumping the logs or rolling in sand or giving the human walkers a show.
How we miss the spaniel, beagle and terrier at places they leapt and bounded, the stretches of sand used to be merrier, now it’s the dogs being chased and hounded.
Folks bring drinks and picnics on a tray and wade where the fish make schools, but the cheerful pups have been washed away on a tide of bureaucratic rules.
Flora Jardine
Saanich