A nature lover’s daily journey

The piles are massive and diverse. Small ones, large ones. Smooth ones, chunky ones. Brown ones, black ones, gray ones. We and the children walk past them as they dissolve into the dirt. We do it every day when we walk to the forests and other public spaces.

The trail we love most is a sensitive habitat that is in recovery. Dogs must be on a leash. Dogs are never on a leash. There are more and more dogs.

We love sharing this space with all creatures, humans and animals alike. It is quiet — there are rarely birds, which is eerie. Dogs run on the paths, off the paths, and their barks punctuate the silence. They bark at us.

Sometimes they jump on us. On multiple occasions, jumping dogs have drawn blood. “Oh sorry s/he is not supposed to jump”, if the owner is polite. Further silence if they are not, because we are too polite and preoccupied with the day to raise our shirts and show them the claw marks and the blood oozing from our skin.

Sometimes they are friendly, interrupting our own silence to say hello, get a pat, and go about their business. Sometimes they ignore us, and that is best. But never are they on leashes.

We wonder if dog owners know why it is so quiet in the recovering forest. It is not because the birds are turned off by the excrement left unbagged or — oddly — bagged and hanging from a fence post, or stashed next to a tree. It is because those areas are home to thousands of creatures that when they nest, and a dog comes scampering through the bushes, they will get frightened and leave.

“This area is not safe”, they say. The waste is not fertilizer, neither is the urine. The running unleashed is not just an expression of harmless joy and delight. It is that, and it is damage. It is frightening.

Who are these parks for? You? And your dog? The pandemic was hard. We all needed something to help us, companions, friends. But we have a responsibility to protect and better this environment, to build stronger communities far into the future that accommodate all.

The care of your dog friend is your responsibility. Please keep them on a leash when required to do so. Please clean up after them. Please do not engage with people through your dog. Allow people to engage with your dog through you.

We all do not care for your pets, and we all do not prioritize them over the wellbeing of other local creatures. They are an extension of you, and reflect you as citizens. You need to be accountable.