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Off-Leash Dogs Are Everywhere As Pet Owners Routinely Ignore City Laws

By  Alisa Hauser and Patty Wetli | July 25, 2017 8:14am 

 Dogs off leashes and signs warning against dogs in unauthorized areas of parks off leash.
Dogs off leashes
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CHICAGO — Chicago comes alive in the summer as residents flock to street fests, beaches and parks during this most fleeting of seasons.

That goes for the city's four-legged residents too, much to some people's consternation.

Though signs at parks throughout Chicago remind patrons that their dogs must be on leash — except for in specifically designated dog friendly areas — neighborhood Facebook pages routinely light up with angry posts about pet owners who let "their dog run free like they own the place," with complaints ranging from gripes about dog poop to fears of being bitten.

"I have a 4-year-old daughter who is terrified of dogs. She sees them running loose and panics. It's scary on all accounts," said Mari Seracki, who recently spent time with other moms and kids in Wicker Park's Walsh Park, 1722 N. Ashland Ave., on the far eastern end of the popular 606 park system.

The Chicago Police Department has ticket writing authority and can hand out fines of $300 up to $10,000 plus jail time if an attack occurs while an animal is off leash.

The city's Department of Revenue reported it collected about $117,000 on 287 tickets in 2016, down from around $141,500 on 374 tickets in 2015. So far this year, the city has collected about $70,000 on 183 tickets, according to revenue department records.

Despite the ordinance that bans off-leash dogs and the threat of a costly financial penalty, scores of pet owners allow their pooches to roam untethered in public spaces.

RELATED: Bitten By Off-Leash Dog, Bucktown Mom Warns Others, Looks For Pup's Owner

Emily Keber-Goldrick, a Bucktown resident, said she has seen dogs off leash at both Holstein and Ehrler parks in Bucktown — including some scooting down playground slides.

While Keber-Goldrick, who is married to a veterinarian and owns two dogs, said she's comfortable around pups, she doesn't trust an unknown dog near her 6-month-old or 3-year-old.

"This is for the safety not only of my kids, but their dog as well. I don't know how my 3-year-old will react to your pet," she said.

An off-leash dog surprises children at Ehrler Park in Bucktown. [Provided]

Concerns about the unpredictable behavior off-leash dogs aren't limited to parents of young children or joggers and cyclists hounded on park paths. Other dog owners are also critics of the leash law breakers.

On a recent sunny afternoon, Greg Larkin of Lincoln Square watched as his new rescue, Hoover, frolicked in River Park's dog friendly area.

"I believe dogs shouldn't be off the leash except in doggie parks — you never know what's going to happen," Larkin said. His previous dog was attacked, while leashed, three times by other dogs — all off leash, he said.

"I thought my dog was going to be chewed up alive. I was screaming," he recalled.

A Bucktown resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said that encounters with off-leash dogs have caused his smallish 44-pound mutt to bark and show her teeth, and left her shaking afterward. During a recent stroll through a park, a large Mastiff-type dog, playing fetch off-leash with its owner, charged the man's pet.

"My dog freaked out and I yelled at the guy to control his dog," said the Bucktown resident.

"This man really could not understand that dogs need to be on the leash. He even yelled something about 'Not paying $400,000 so he couldn't walk his dog,'" the man said. "I have just learned to hate a lot of dog owners who think the world is their playground."

The dog friendly area in River Park. [DNAinfo/Patty Wetli]

For those who believe they're doing their dog a favor by removing the leash, veterinarian Bruce Silverman of Village West Veterinary, 840 N. Western Ave., said the opposite is often true.

"In general, having a dog off-leash in the city is risky. A dog might get in a fight with another dog, or get attacked by a dog much, much bigger than he or she, and not even have a chance for a fight. Some dogs get only a minor wound, but some never make it home alive," Silverman said.

"Also, a dog might bite a person during such incidents, which opens the door for all kinds of legal problems as well as possibly injuring a person severely," he continued.

There's also the potential for dogs to run into the street, in pursuit of a squirrel or some other distraction, the veterinarian said."Having your dog off-leash in the city just isn't the best way to protect them from these regular dangers," Silverman said.

Jordan plays around in River Park's dog friendly area. [DNAinfo/Patty Wetli]

Some dog owners argue that a lack of dog friendly areas makes it nearly impossible to comply with Chicago's leash law.

The one-tenth acre of dog friendly asphalt in River Park represents just one of 23 dog parks in a city with an estimated population of 400,000 to 600,000 dogs. The South Side has just one unofficial ad hoc dog park, Jackson Bark, which is under threat of being eliminated as part of a plan to expand Jackson Park's golf course.

RELATED: Will The South Side Finally Get An Official Dog Park? Alderman Wants Action

Creating new dog friendly areas, no matter how great the demand, is a lengthy and expensive proposition.

Horner Park, along the border of Albany Park and Irving Park, is wildly popular with dog owners of both the on- and off-leash persuasion, as well as neighbors who engage in a variety of recreational activities.

Tension among those various groups, and acknowledgement that "not everyone likes dogs and, indeed, many people are afraid of them," led the park's advisory council to explore building a nearly one-acre dog park, according to an FAQ.

"We hope that if people have a nice, big, fun place just for dogs, they will choose to use it, thereby reducing the potential for off-leash dogs to come into conflict with runners, bikers, children, sports teams or leashed dogs who are also using the park," the FAQ states.

Yet after years of fundraising, the Horner Park Dog Friendly area is still scarcely halfway to its $250,000 to $300,000 goal.

Other dog owners specifically avoid dog parks — regardless of how many amenities they offer — because they say the enclosed areas cause dogs to become aggressive.

RELATED: 2 Attacks On Dogs In River North Lead To $500 Reward For Information

The problem isn't dog parks, the problem is a lack of training and education, said Fabian Romo-Vargas, director of operations at Found Chicago Boarding & Training Center.

"It's not the dog's fault. There needs to be more education on dog handling and dog training," Romo-Vargas said. "People feel overconfident in their handling skills."

Dogs need to be trained to the point where they are allowed off-leash — in a dog park or elsewhere — not simply let loose with zero training or control, he said.

Romo-Vargas is a proponent of E-Collars, which send a vibration to off-leash dogs as a way to say, "Hey, come back," he said.

"[The dog] has to come back to you on command, and I'm talking on a dime," Romo-Vargas said.

For dog owners to let their pets off-leash trusting in nothing more than the pups' goodness, with no enforcement tool, "They're crazy," said Romo-Vargas.

And then there are the people who purchase E-Collars online and simply "watch some YouTube videos," he said.

"You have to do it right," Romo-Vargas said. "You have to make a serious investment."

Some dogs will never behave reliably enough to be good off-leash candidates — something that owners may have more of a problem with than the animal, Romo-Vargas noted.

"People want to project what they feel the dog needs versus what they really want," he said.

While some form of exercise is important for a dog's health, they don't "need" to run free in order to survive, animal behaviorists say.

"There are ways for dogs to have fun and stay on leash," Romo-Vargas said. "Ride a bike with the dog, run with the dog. Go for a walk, play fetch on a long lead."

[DNAinfo/Patty Wetli]

The conflict over dogs off leash is, in many ways, a quintessential example of a First World problem.

According to a report in National Geographic, a study of 60 "pet keeping" cultures found that only 22 consider dogs to be pets, and of those, only seven regularly feed their dogs and allow them inside the house. Just three, the United States among them, play with their dogs.

"The affection and resources lavished upon pets in the United States and Europe today is a cultural anomaly," the report concluded.

Anomaly or not, the clash between on-leash and off-leash factions is only likely to intensify.

Pet ownership is on the rise, particularly among Millennials: 75 percent of Americans in their 30s own dogs, 51 percent own cats.

At that rate, the leash wars might settle themselves — the entire country is going to the dogs.

DNAinfo/Tanveer Ali [Source: Chicago Park District]