In a year and a half of editing The Hardwick Gazette, I’ve discovered that a huge amount of information doesn’t really rise to the level that makes it news. Much of it is about unrelated subjects and even several tidbits that are somehow connected don’t together reach the level of being newsworthy. Every now and then though, something happens that creates a common thread between a pile of them that draws my attention.
That subject is dogs, their owners and the public places they visit.
Today’s letter to the editor from Kathy Swanson creates a bridge between several of those ideas when it comes to dogs. Her harrowing tale of an accident with a dog while she was biking on the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail (LVRT) sent her to the hospital with an injury that will require a lengthy convalescence.
I’ve biked on the LVRT a fair amount and have had few difficult interactions with dogs. The rule reads, “Dogs are permitted on the trail. Pet owners must have control of their animals at all times.”
Most dog owners have their pets leashed, or seem to have them under control, but there are some I’ve had to yell at and a few I’ve had to kick at. For the most part dog owners seem more concerned that I might hit their treasured pet and move to the side of the trail, or off of it, sometimes even facing their domestic beast away from a rider.
Hardwick Trails offers Trail Etiquette directed to dog owners that is more restrictive than for state rail trails, saying, “Dog owners! Help the trails remain dog-friendly. Hardwick’s Dog Control ordinance says dogs must be on a leash, and clearly under the verbal or non-verbal control of the owner. [Owners must] immediately remove the dog’s fecal matter and dispose of it.”
Again, most dog owners there respect that trail etiquette, but there are some who will say words to the effect of, “my dog’s friendly,” or something similar. That expression completely disregards the listener, or their dog’s possible response to another dog. The person their friendly dog is approaching may be deathly afraid of dogs, or that kind of dog, for any number of reasons. The approach of even a friendly dog may terrorize them or provoke a response from their dog through no fault of the dog or the dog owner, but preventably so if the dog is leashed and a respectful distance is maintained.
I’ll only briefly touch on the subject of dog feces, which, though they might be easily flicked off the trail with a stick, are often found encapsulated in small green or black plastic bags and left trailside for the poop fairy to collect at some unknown future time.
At the Caspian Lake Beach the rule reads, “Dogs must be on leash.” There’s no ambiguity there, yet not all dogs are. Of course, their owners say they’re the friendly ones despite the presence of unpredictable people, most especially small children.
I’m relatively sure the same thinking applies to owners and their dogs that applies to those of us who sometimes travel above the speed limit in our cars; because, of course, I know what I’m doing better than those who created the rules.
Paul Fixx, editor
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
