I stopped going to Marymoor Park when more and more people began to run
their dogs there (not to mention that I moved away from Redmond). I'm
almost ready to stop going to Magnuson Park for the same reason. Maybe I'm
being too picky, but it's because the dog owners aren't. It's actually the
dog s--t* that eventually causes my aversion, because it's there long after
the dogs have gone. You can still see plenty of birds notwithstanding
human and canine activity, but along some paths I have to look down
sufficiently not to be able to look up to see the birds. I like dogs, but
the inconsiderate behavior of many of their owners really prejudices me
against them in large numbers in public places. I wish we could set aside
fenced dog-walking/running areas in parks such as Marymoor and Magnuson to
facilitate the obvious need in the doggy community but leave other parts
poopless. Maybe the guilty dog-owners could pay for poop-scooping
custodians if they were unwilling to do it themselves.

Let's hear it for Poopless in Seattle.

*scat

Dennis Paulson, Director phone: (206) 756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax: (206) 756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail: dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416