To the editor,
Let me begin by saying that I like dogs. I grew up with a Labrador named Beau who followed me everywhere, including places he should not have gone. I understand the impulse to let a dog run free at the edge of Homan’s Pond on a warm afternoon. It looks like joy.
That said, the current situation around the pond is unsafe and, frankly, unfair to people who follow the rules.
I walk the pond loop three mornings a week. In the past month, I have been approached by off-leash dogs on no fewer than five occasions. Most were friendly. One was not — a large mixed-breed who growled at my terrier and whose owner’s response was, and I quote, “He’s usually fine with other dogs.” I will spare the Gazette’s readers my opinion of that sentence.
Willow Creek has a leash ordinance. It is posted on the sign at the boat launch. The Town Meeting voted to keep it in place two years ago. But enforcement is essentially nonexistent, and when a rule is never enforced, people stop believing it exists.
I am not asking the sheriff’s department to patrol the pond with a citation book. I am asking the selectmen to direct the recreation committee to post a few more signs, maybe restock the dispensers with waste bags, and remind residents that the ordinance exists for a reason. Most people will comply once they are reminded. The ones who will not were never going to read this letter anyway.
Respectfully,
Mr. Richard Gagnon 42 Pond Road Willow Creek