via somerville dog

Somerville's first off-leash recreational area will be opening in Nunziato Field in 2006. Until it opens, please be a courteous criminal: Don't enter the park with your dogs when people without dogs are in the park, and when people without dogs enter the park please leave and take your dogs with you. It's an unwritten rule, but it’s better than the one currently posted in the park.

A friend of mine was in Nunziato Field Tuesday evening as I was walking by. I went in to greet him. The first thing out of his mouth was that the Alderman from Ward Four has been coming to Nunziato Field (which is in Ward Three) and telling people to take their dogs out of the park. My friend told me that he’d met another friend our ours at the Sherman Cafe last week who told him about her encounter with the Alderman; he met someone else on the street a couple of days later who had just left the park after being kicked out by the Alderman.

I received an e-mail from Alderman Pero last week. I called him on the telephone but didn't catch up with him until Sunday, January 30, when he called to tell me that he had just left Nunziato Field, and there had been five people in the park with "dogs running all over the place." I asked him if there had been anyone else using the park without dogs. There had not.

The Somerville Dog Owners Group was founded by unwilling scofflaws. We know very well that it is easier for dog owners to support the status quo because there has been little direct cost to them personally for breaking the rules. In spite of this, we are working to change the status quo for the benefit of everyone who enjoys open space in Somerville.

Transparency is one of som|dog's core values. We have always acknowledged the activities of dog owners in our city’s parks and the potential consequences of those activities. Responsible dog owners founded som|dog to work in our community and with our elected representatives to find solutions that address the open space needs of all residents.

It is by socializing and exercising our dogs off-leash that responsible dog owners ensure that our dogs are good neighbors. We know the benefits to the community of well-socialized dogs and the benefits to themselves, to their families and to their immediate neighbors of a tired dog. But the City of Somerville currently treats our efforts to provide these benefits as criminal activity.

Nearly every park in the City of Somerville is posted no dogs allowed. The fine for failing to comply with the "No Dogs Allowed" signs is $25.00.