Common ground sought with dog owners on leashing
LINCOLN -- A catastrophe for the canines? Or a doggone good idea?
Conservation officials in Lincoln are mulling new rules that could require more dogs to be leashed on a conservation parcel where they currently can run free.
The officials say some of the dogs have been causing trouble for people, wildlife, and vegetation at the Mount Misery conservation land, a popular place for dog walkers off Route 117.
''There are some dogs that are causing problems, and it's also a matter of overuse -- too many dogs running free on the land, and we see environmental degradation because of that," Jim Meadors, a member of the Lincoln Conservation Commission, said in an interview.
''Our interest is protecting the land. We would like to find a solution that would allow people to enjoy the land and at the same time allow us to protect the values that we need to protect there."
The commission last month proposed regulations that would have required all dogs to be on leashes by early April, but commission members backed off after hearing protests from dog owners. Instead, commission members are considering compromise proposals, such as requiring that dogs be on leash at certain times of the day or on certain parts of the land. Commission members also want dog owners to pick up dog waste.
The Conservation Commission has scheduled a public hearing on new regulations for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the town offices building on Lincoln Road.
The problems, Meadors said, include some dogs killing small rodents such as mice, voles, and shrews, which disrupts the food chain, since owls and hawks feed on those animals. Birds that build nests on the ground have also been harassed, he said, as have frogs and salamanders that live in upland areas. Some dogs have also killed chickens on an organic farm on the parcel, he said.
In addition, Meadors said, some of the ground near ponds on the parcel is worn, stripped of vegetation by dogs running around the edges.
Commission members have also gotten reports of people walking on the trails being jumped on by overly friendly dogs and attacked by not-so-friendly ones.
''Some dogs off leash are free-ranging, charging down the trail and through the woodlands, and their owners are nowhere to be seen," said commission member Jim Henderson. ''Safety is a major concern there."
But some dog owners say Mount Misery, which includes large stretches of open land relatively far from roads, is ideal for letting dogs off leash and that most dogs there are well behaved.
Preston Mitchell, a Sudbury resident, said he brings Caesar, a miniature Australian shepherd, to Mount Misery to walk him off leash just about every day.
''It's a good, safe place where they can get exercise, run around, have a ball and socialize with other dogs, and the dogs' owners all get to know each other," Mitchell said.
Sudbury resident Julie Angueira, who was walking her dog, Sadie, a 12-year-old golden retriever, on a leash along a hilly trail through the woods Thursday morning, said she understands both sides of the argument.
''I can see both points of view, because when [my dog] was younger, I would bring her in here and she would just run around. And it's good for dogs to run around," Angueira said.
''But there are a lot of elderly people who come here, too, and young children," she said. ''I can see where everybody should have the right to use this place, and not be afraid of being trampled down by a dog that's not controlled by its owner."
Henderson noted that it's hard to enforce dog-walking regulations on conservation land, which is one reason conservation officials are hoping to come up with a policy that dog walkers will accept.
''We'd really rather get people to understand the issues and buy into a solution," Henderson said. ''We need people to value and understand our concerns about the environment as much as their own." 