People love to psychoanalyze the residents of San Francisco. I choose not to. But this is interesting.
In this city named after St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals, the 120,000 dogs outnumber children. And while the debates are not unique — leash or no leash, dog parks or people parks — San Francisco’s arguments are particularly high-pitched.
The dog lobby is a political tour de force, with a network to make even the GOP proud. Most parks have pro-dog groups. The leash debate draws huge crowds at hearings, which go on forever and require overflow rooms.
Canine political action committees hold Q&A’s with would-be officeholders. In the last mayoral race, candidate Matt Gonzales even inspired a group called “Mutts for Matt.”
Blogs rail against “dog haters.” One dog group’s motto is “Speak up now or forever hold your leash!” Bumper stickers say: “I’m a dog owner and I vote.”
And woe to those who want those furry wards tethered. Take Arnold Levine: He loves dogs. It’s their owners he fears.
Levine, 56, who has no pets, sits on the 12-member Dog Advisory Committee, which consults with city parks officials. He’s been shouted down at meetings for, as he says, “having the audacity to take a stand against people who feel their dogs should run free at every park and beach in San Francisco.”
Dog owners, he says, have turned local Sunnyside Park into “a toilet.” But when he suggested that they leash and clean up after their pets, he felt their wrath.
He found dog feces inside his car and on his lawn. “One woman repeatedly screamed, ‘You’re not human!’ ” he said. Finally, he sold his home and moved. Caroline Murphy, who regularly walks Laika, a beagle-terrier mix, says Sunnyside dog owners have made a big effort, circulating “petiquette” guides and holding park cleanups.
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“It’s the third rail of San Francisco politics,” said Supervisor Sean Elsbernd. “There is no middle ground. City officials know that if they touch the issue, they’re going to get hurt.”Even Matt Gonzales, backed by “Mutts for Matt,” says “the dog lobby has a Tammany Hall reality. Someone walks into your office and says ‘I got 30 votes here, what can you do for me?’ They walk precincts. It’s the way the religious right does politics.”
All dog owners want is to be left alone, insists Sally Stephens, head of the San Francisco Dog Owners Group.
She says opponents mischaracterize the issue as one pitting children against dogs. Many families have both, she reasons. Opponents have overblown the acts of the irresponsible few who do not curb their pets, she said.
San Francisco is home to some of America’s first dog day-care centers, as well as dog hotels, holistic veterinarians and restaurants that allow pets to eat alongside their owners.
The city has one of the nation’s lowest animal shelter kill rates, with 82% of dogs and cats saved, according to animal welfare statistics.
Its 225 parks feature 29 off-leash dog play areas, the most per square mile nationwide — more than Sacramento, Oakland, San Diego and Los Angeles combined, officials say.
Of course, San Francisco is the place to vacation if you insist on having your dog with you.
link Hotels are very dog-accommodating.
