Hi, everyone,

I was at Marymoor Park in Renton this morning, looking for the
Clay-colored Sparrow. S.O.D.A., the off-leash dog organization, was
having an anniversary celebration, and I got to talking with some of the
people there. One of them told me that dog owners in her organization,
while in the marked off-leash area, have been treated VERY rudely by
birders, and many of them think that birders are the rudest, nastiest,
most obnoxious people around. I was surprised and dismayed.

If you are one of the birders who has been less than polite to dog
owners inside an official off-leash area, please consider the following.
However you feel about the whole idea of off-leash areas in parks, right
now these are completely legal and official, and the dog owners have
very right to let their dogs run loose inside them, even if the dogs
flush a bird you want to see. The dog owners you confront have made the
effort to come to an off-leash area. They are the ones most likely to
be responsible, law-abiding dog owners, and the ones least likely to run
their dogs off-leash in other, more sensitive areas. They are on our
side. Alienating them is NOT going to help protect wildlife and
wildlife habitat in any way. Treating them with respect and
consideration is just plain common courtesy, and will make it much
easier to enlist their help in getting the law-breakers who run dogs
off-leash in other areas to stop doing so. Save your energy for
(politely) confronting dog owners who are actively breaking the leash
laws, and for (politely) asking responsible dog owners to do the same.

Rachel Lawson
Seattle
RachelLawson at softhome.net