"Speak now or forever hold your leash"

Isn't the Common great?

Right smack in the middle of a bustling city, you can escape a little and relax on rolling hills with trees blowing in the wind. Kids play and people get some sun, have lunch, walk their dogs. The events and functions every year add life and fun to the daily grind and I can't imagine living here, or owning a dog, without it.

One of our key missions is to help the City and the Parks Department identify and create a permanent, adequite and visually appealing dog recreation space.  Hopefully this will end the bickering about no off-leash space or the harrassment that some feel they recieve just because the rangers are doing their jobs of enforcing the leash laws.

Wether most know it or not, it is a State law, not a city ordinance, that restricts dogs in public places to ALWAYS be on leashes. For whatever reason that law was enacted, it is there. It doesn't seem to be enforced much and some citizens simply ignore it, but our idea is to form numbers and petition to allow a LEGAL dog park, right on Boston Common.

We're not seeking the most prime real estate. We don't want our dog waste everywhere or the turf damaged in highly visible areas, but our dog population is large. We pay our taxes, we vote and we want to let our dogs roam free on the Common. The vast majority want to do the right thing and obey the ordinances, but where are we supposed to go? There are spots for children, tourists and ballplayers... but dogs, who could be considered as an important part of the family fabric and community in general, are to be regulated to a 5 foot leash? 

Most major cities in the country and even around the world, recognize the appeal, the need and the benifit of having well designed and maintained dog recreation spaces. Let's make Boston one of them. In fact, let's shoot for making Boston the most dog-friendly city in the world.