Dog-owners face public backlash for using parks, but where are they supposed to go? Do we let protective parents run the parks while dogs can’t run at all?

I’ve recently encountered multiple incidents where discrimination against animals is becoming an escalating issue in Toronto. It may be due to the ethnic diversity that Toronto brags about, or just a cash grab from the City Of Toronto, but what irks me is that animal welfare is not taken into account at all.

While taking my dogs for their evening walk, we cut through a nearby school in East York. The garden area was under construction and I let my dogs sniff around the pathway as a woman came over, telling me to leave. I ignored her and she continued to harass me and threatened to call animal control. I told her, “Go ahead, call them.”

She continued to stalk me while I walked my dogs, taking photos of me and at one point a video. She said, if I don’t remove my dogs from the park, she will, “remove them herself.” I felt this woman intruded on my privacy and not only made me feel unsafe, but also, prejudiced against my dogs and I.  This is  by far the most aggressive encounter I’ve had with an ignorant parent, but it isn’t the first attack where the issue of animal prejudice is just beneath the surface.

Another incident occurred this January at Todmordan Mills just after our first real snow of the season. My mother walked the dogs in the “preserved” nature area of the park and was approached by a by-law officer that ordered she “tame” the dog (a.k.a. leash her) and then demanded she provide pet licenses. He took photos of my mother, recorded her car’s license plate number and ordered her to pay the pet licensing fee within two days. He left her with a warning about the off-leash fine, and added that the Todmordan Mill is a “protected wildflower reserve.” Oh I’m sorry? Did our dogs trample over the wildflowers? I doubt that because they are already dead and covered in a few feet of snow!

So, what gives Toronto?

In the city of Toronto, there are over 1,500 parks; however there are only 57 off-leash dog parks and that is the ONLY place, other than your own private property that you are allowed to let dogs off-leash. The law states you must have your dogs on a leash no longer than 2 metres at all other times. Frankly, the well-being of a dog relies on the amount of exercise they get daily and the law doesn’t allow for that.

According to the City of Toronto website, there are 54,895 licensed dogs in Toronto and that doesn’t account for the percentage of the dog population that are not licensed. Even with the current numbers, it would be mean there is roughly one dog park for every thousand dogs in Toronto. This is clearly an oversight by the government who think it’s okay to not let dogs run around and play fetch.

According to the TDSB there are 591 schools in Toronto. Of that, 451 of them are elementary schools. The student population in elementary schools is 154,600 students. In this ratio, there is approximately 350 elementary students to every school park playground.

In this comparison, it is evident that the amount of dogs outweighs the amount of elementary students using park land. There is no reason that the government should restrict the use of parkland, in addition to school parks for the sole purpose of children. There needs to be a joint agreement made to allow dogs to use school property after school hours for the purpose of exercise and play.

The primarily issue I have faced as a dog-owner is parent’s concern over “dog poo” in the respected school grounds. As a responsible pet owner, I pick up after my pets, regardless if they are off-leash. However, I know not EVERYONE does, especially in the winter. The snow melts and every green space is littered with a pile of dog poo every few meters. Yes I agree, it’s disgusting!

But, there are other animals that inhabit the park, including squirrels, raccoons and birds, with the likely occurrence of ferrel cats, rats, bats and mice. There is no law against wild animals desecrating on public property, as there is with dogs. Raccoon feces are toxic and can cause infections in humans such as: Racoon Ringworm, Giardia (an infection) and Leptospirosis, a bacterial infection that can be caused when in contact with raccoon urine. It appears the dog poo is the less harmful alternative to wild animal’s feces and often adult raccoon poo can be mistaken for dog feces–unless examined closely for undigested berries and other foods.

Are dogs raising health concerns for the public?

Ontario placed a dog ban on pit bulls in 2005 after multiple incidents of dog bitings and attacks. In the past year, Toronto has cracked down on off-leash dogs by ticketing dog-owners with a fine up to $360 for breaking the law. Last year alone, there had been 924 investigations of complaints of off-leash dogs, with 39 people charged.

In addition, the city is now requiring owners to purchase a $25 annual license for spayed dogs and $60 for unaltered canines. In 2011 only 30 per cent of dogs were licensed, so it is likely most are unaccounted for. According to the Toronto Star, the city discontinued a program where they sent out students in the summer to knock on suspecting pet owners doors to collect the licensing fee. This was likely a way to cut back on spending, because the city spends $2 million to collect $2.4 million in annual revenues on pet licenses. It is apparent that this act of authority is nothing more than a cash-grab but The City of Toronto claims that the pet licensing fee helps fund other animal service initiatives. 

In the broader scope, Canadian tax-dollars go to funding schools and parks that are solely “admissible” to people with children. The Globe reported, “School boards in Canada spent a whopping $53-billion in 2011, for a school-aged population of about six million. That comes out to nearly $9,000 a child.”

Taxpayers are forking out $9,000 dollars for someone else’s child, but they aren’t allowed to use the green space for their pets.

The average home-owner pays about $3,500 in property taxes a year, with the average Canadian family paying about $9,000 a year in taxes. Why isn’t any of this money allocated to improving green space to make it more dog friendly? 

Imagine if there was an option and you could choose where your money went, would you pick schools? Or would you pick dog parks?

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