Saturday, May 23, 2009

First our Wild Horses Now our Domesticated Dogs: Who "Owns" our Public Lands? Mining Companies, hunters & ORV riders

Canine closure at Tent Rocks monument described as ‘a shame’

By David Alire Garcia 5/22/09 3:36 PM

According to the editor of PETroglyphs — “New Mexico’s independent, award-winning, animal newspaper focusing on community education for animal welfare” — the recently announced dog ban at Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument is “a shame… especially on a holiday weekend.” But at the same time PETroglyphs editor Nancy Marano is adamant that dog owners must be responsible for their animals. In responce to an e-mail seeking comment on the BLM’s recent decision, Marano wrote the following:

There are so many people who love to explore and hike with their dogs it is a shame to keep them from doing that especially on a holiday weekend. However, people who hike with their dogs need to be responsible for their dog’s safety and behavior by making sure the dog is well trained, controlled and on a leash if necessary. The public has the right to feel safe near a person’s dog.

The Bureau of Land Management announced earlier this week that dogs will no longer be permitted at Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument beginning this Saturday. A short Associated Press story published yesterday detailed what appears to have been a pattern of unleashed dogs at the popular monument, in addition to the case of one hiker who was actually bitten by a dog whose owners immediately fled the scene:

Monument manager Danny Randall says a hiker was bitten on both arms last week by a loose dog whose owners sped away. The monument is popular with school kids, and Randall says loose dogs and kids are an accident waiting to happen. Randall also says many owners aren’t abiding by the monument’s rule that dogs must be leashed, and they aren’t picking up after their dogs.

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MadAngry 0 minutes ago
Well they now allow guns & hunting onto our public lands....is that not "an accident waiting to happen?" Id rather take my chances with a pack of dogs than with one crazy gun-totin' kill-happy hunter.

Maybe they want the dogs off the land cause they chase the ATVs and other ORVs that are now also allowed on our publc lands.
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