Wasted away again

You know the old line..."He was told to walk five miles a day...here it is a week later and he's 35 miles from home."

Well, I know why "he" didn't come home.  He went to the Perry Hall Park, the magnificent multimillion dollar facility that Baltimore County built for us, right across from the terrific library they built for us.  Any time you hear people hollering about taxes and whatnot, remind them that we have these amazing things available to us, a huge building filled with books, videos, and tons of resources for free use, and lighted fields for people of all ages to play games and get some fresh air in your lungs and dog doody on your shoes.

Yes, I said it. Dog poop, Samoyed stools, Pekingese plop, Newfoundland Number Two, Mastiff muck, Labrador logs, Kerry Blue Kaka, French Bulldog Fudge nuggets, Chihuahua crapola. It's everywhere.

Here's the sitch.  Peggy and I like to walk, we like fresh air, and we don't especially enjoy dodging cars in the street. So now that the temperatures allow people to go outside without passing out from heatstroke, we like going to the local rec & parks facilities and making the pedometer on my phone click off 6,000 steps.  Most of the school and soccer sites near us are remarkably well-kept: the grass is trimmed, trash is picked up, and they are remarkably nice places for a stroll.

But we see people who, if asked, would describe themselves as good, law-abiding, public-spirited citizens, willfully violating Baltimore County Code § 12-3-110, which states that any animal off the owner's property must be on a leash.  Simple.  But we see dog owners bringing good old Fido to the park and standing there as the hound runs around dropping deuces all around.

And then they leave, violating Code § 12-3-106, which states "The owner of an animal shall remove excreta deposited by the animal on public byways, recreational areas, or private property."  Sad to say, the framers of the Baltimore County Code did know as many snappy terms for Airedale apples as I have learned.

Dog owners in the area fought long and hard to get a paw park where their pets can run around for exercise in a vast, fenced area.  It's about a half a mile away at Honeygo Run Park.  But all the dogs are at Perry Hall Park, doing the squat-and-scoot.

The problem is the same syndrome that we see at parades and festivals where people are asked not to bring the dogs out.  But here they are, strutting around, and if asked, the owners will aver that, "Oh they didn't mean Verdell!  Everybody loves to see Verdell!"  And by extension, we all should just step over whatever Verdell had for dinner last night.

Dogs are going to leave their leavings.  Please don't leave the park and leave it behind.  Thank you!