Dogs, Parking Meters and the Rule of Law

There is a neighborhood area where the locals take their dogs to run with each other. It is a sizable park, not fenced but well away from pedestrian traffic, sometimes frequented by sunbathers in the early day. The dog people always come at dusk when they are off work, the dogs have been indoors all day and there are no people around. It has become an interesting little social subset, people of all ages, stripes and backgrounds joined by their care and love for dogs. The group is self selecting; the aggressive dogs, the less disciplined dogs, the dogs that run away are not brought to the park. The owners sit, some bring light folding chairs you see at high school ball games, and socialize while the dogs play. On Fridays people bring hor d'oeuvres and share some wine.

The city, like most, has a leash law. Any dog without a leash draws a 30 dollar ticket for its owner. It is a reasonable law. Dogs loose in the street can be a problem. Here in the dog park the dogs run in a controlled area without risk to themselves or others. But they are off their leashes.

Recently, drawn by the smell of potential fines, the police have moved in. They have actually begun to stake out the dog park and have started ticketing any owners there. Taking a law aimed at safety and quality of life in the city they have enforced the letter of the law to the detriment of both. Like parking meters which used to encourage the availability of parking spaces for businesses and now discourage parking at all, the leash law has become predatory. Initially the owners reacted by assigning lookouts, like pickets at a military camp, but gradually the group wore down. Now no one goes to the dog park.