posted April 12, 2006
I think the mayor of the city of Chattanooga needs to change the rules for the walking bridge downtown to where you can take your dogs on there with you.
It's the taxpayers' money that paid for the bridge and it's the taxpayers' money that keeps it functionable.
I think that everyone that owns a dog needs to call, email or write the mayor and get that ruling changed to allow us to have our dogs on the bridge.
How many folks would go walking on there if they could take their dogs cause you feel safer? I know I would.
Samantha Beaty
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While it is obvious that Ms. Beaty is passionate about having her dog on the Walnut Street Bridge, and seems quite convinced that this feeling can be justified by the “increase” in personal safety that her dog would provide, she fails to realize that, unfortunately, a lot of dog owners can’t be trusted to pick up after their best friend(s).
Many times, I have observed large deposits left behind by Fido on the bridge even though he wasn’t supposed to be there in the first place. A huge liability exists in allowing dogs on the bridge because the city cannot police which dogs are properly immunized and socialized to participate in the public environment of the bridge.
If a child were attacked or otherwise injured by an animal on the bridge, the parents might hold the city liable.
This is an issue that is better left alone.
Kari Johnston
kari-johnston@earthlink.net
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Unfortunately, some people are not responsible pet owners. Many at Harrison Bay State Park continue to disregard signs that are posted for pets to remain on leashes. At the Greenway Park in Hixson, it's important to watch your step or it's easy to step in piles of dog mess along the beautiful trails.
I've seen two large unleashed Rottweilers start a fight with a leashed collie on the bluff at Sunset Rock on Lookout Mountain – once they got excited, the owners of the Rottweilers (who seemed totally surprised at their precious pets) were unable to control the dogs. The collie owner had to put himself in danger and leave the area as quickly as possible.
Until there is evidence that pet owners in this area can be responsible with the areas that are currently available to share with their pets, there is no reason to allow pets in other areas.
Also in your message you speak of safety as a reason why you would want your dog around. If safety is an issue on Walnut Street Bridge , I hope that you're not placing the responsibility for your safety on a family pet. If safety is a serious concern, we should be having a more serious conversation with the mayor about increasing safety in the downtown area.
If safety is a concern, it is also a concern for non-pet owners. Dogs in public areas can become a safety issue of their own - especially in the hands of irresponsible owners. My personal favorites are the ones that don't have their pets on leashes and then insist on trying to defend themselves by saying how "good" their dog is and how they have never bitten anyone (yet is the missing word that they always seem to leave off.).
Another argument in your message is: "It's the taxpayers' money that paid for the bridge and it's the taxpayers' money that keeps it functional." I would like to remind you that to be a taxpayer, you don't have to be a pet owner. There are plenty of taxpayers that do not have dogs.
You may be a very responsible pet owner that would keep your dog on a leash and would always pick up after it, but unfortunately there are too many pet owners that are not taking responsibility for their pets in areas that are already available to share with their pets. Each time this happens, the safety and enjoyment of other fellow walkers, hikers, bikers, and runners are placed at risk.
Until there are significant improvements in responsible pet ownership, I would hate to see some of the most beautiful and enjoyable areas in Chattanooga be ruined by piles of dog mess and safety issues brought about by irresponsible pet owners.
J. Harper
Chattanooga
chattanoogagirl@gmail.com
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There are three places in Chattanooga where pets are prohibited. They are the Riverwalk, Coolidge Park and the Walnut Street Bridge. I believe that public property in the rest of the city is open to and is used by pets and pet owners.
The issue of pets in these three beautiful parts of the city is not the pets but the irresponsibility of the pet owners. Chattanooga pet owners steadfastly refuse to clean up after their pets and many pet owners will not keep their pets on a leash. Consequently there are pet droppings left in public places where pets are allowed and occasionally in places where pets are forbidden.
Responsible pet owners with pooper scoopers and plastic bags in hand cleaning up after their pets would be a welcome sight. But until this behavior becomes common in the rest of the city, pets should continue to be prohibited on the Walnut Street Bridge as well as the Riverwalk and Coolidge park.
Byron Dagley
byron@usadmin.com
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As a "responsible" guardian of three dogs and two cats, I wish it wasn't so but the truth is that around Chattanooga a large majority of pet guardians are "irresponsible" about picking up after there pets and confining and controlling them in public.
We walk at Greenway Farms every day early in the morning. I always clean up after both my own dogs and other dogs whose owners have left their droppings along the paths. I have even seen droppings on Walnut St. Bridge where guardians are not "allowed" to walk their pets.
So, too bad for the rest of us, but until responsibility reigns, pets with their guardians will be banned from at least those three areas. I just hope more pet-free zones are not added.
Ann Sheets
Hixson
aksheets@bellsouth.net
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Ok, you're right, Chattanooga people are so inconsiderate, unlike anywhere else in the country. Unlike New York and Los Angeles and all of those places where people are so enlightened and they never, ever let their fido drop a little present for someone else to pick up.
Not. They legalized it here and never had the grit to follow through with it. I have four dogs and would be more than happy to pick up after them. I would pay to pick up after them.
I know that there are inconsiderate people in Chattanooga who do a lousy job with their pets and who are selfish. So what else is new? I walk my dog on the bridge all the time and I always carry a plastic bag in my pocket. I hate being penalized because our government is so uptight that they can't work the bugs out of the system.
Why do I have to be punished because of this? Isn’t that why God made tickets and enforcement and fines? Why can't they just make a law then bother to enforce it and ticket people who don't follow the rules. It would be a great source of income. They could weigh it and charge them by the ounce, like with marijuana. I think that would work.
I would walk around with a camera behind the inconsiderate fool, demanding they scoop that poop. I would do that if it would mean that that my pups could walk across the river with me. It would be well worth it.
Wake up and smell the 21st century.
Fil Manley
fm@premiumwebtools.com
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