Tell Your Dog To Save His Pennies
Here's a notice that was in The Chattanoogan earlier this week for the City Council meeting on October 19 where there will be a First Reading of the following Resolution:
A resolution authorizing the Department of Parks and Recreation toenter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the McKamey Animal Careand Adoption Center and the Chattanooga Goodwill Industries tooperate a membership-fee dog park located at Heritage Park.
According to news sources, a season pass for the park would be $50 and dogs and their owners would get "services and amenities" not available at other dog parks in the city. These would supposedly entail an on-site monitor (someone to watch the dogs play?), health screening (?), separate areas for large and small dogs (what, two fenced areas?), double-gated security (oh, to keep people out), drinking fountains for the dogs, and "commercial grade" agility equipment, whatever that means.
According to Larry Zehnder, Chattanooga Parks and Recreation Director, "This is a somewhat of something that's happening throughout the country, these kinds of specialty facilities for dogs."
Uh, no, it's not. Private or pay-to-play dog parks are relatively rare in the United States. They have only been tried at all in the last several years and, so far, opinions about them are very mixed. As you might imagine, many more affluent people are all in favor of them, while people with more modest incomes are usually wondering what their tax dollars are being used for when they can't even take their dogs to a park that they have probably helped pay for already.
Considering all of the rhetoric that Chattanooga has put forth about making the city more livable and offering amenities to its residents, it does seem very strange that they would want to charge for something as basic to human (and dog) life as a dog park. On the other hand, Chattanooga does tend to like to keep the "riff-raff" out, so maybe this is just their way of maintaining a sense of smug superiority over certain people they don't want to meet in a dog park, even if they do have dogs.
It seems to me that if Chattanooga was serious about making life better for dogs that this dog park would be freely open to all who wanted to use it.
If someone wants to have a "membership-fee" private dog park, shouldn't it be done on private property instead of city property?
It kind of makes you wonder if someone will challenge the city about this idea, too, and take them to court for keeping dogs out of a city park, doesn't it? Oh, and McKamey Animal Care and Adoption Center will be involved in running the park, so you have to wonder just how long it will be before things really go off the rails.
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"Eshever" should do his/her homework before posting untruthful, unfactual and mis-leading comments. The Heritage Dog Park is NOT run by the McKamey Animal Center. The dog park is a wonderful community effort by the Friends of East Brainerd and Goodwill Assistance Dogs. The funds generated by the park go to providing assistance service dogs to people who otherwise could not afford them. An effort worthy of being slammed by Eshever's pompous, self-serving comments? I think not.
ReplyDeleteEshever has also made many negative comments about the McKamey Center as most recently evidenced by the comments in this blog. What a pity that such a small, mean-spirited person can have an anonymous forum to spew their untruths. While Eshever is trying to tear down, others are out in the community working hard to make it better.
Thanks Good Will Service Dogs, Friends of East Brainerd and McKamey Animal Center for all you do.
Maybe we can put in pay park benches too where you cant sit down unless you pay. Maybe we can turn all the bridges into toll bridges too. This town is getting out of controll!!
ReplyDeleteRe Katherine's information above, thanks for providing more information about Goodwill Assistance Dogs. I still don't think that a public park should be pay-to-play, regardless of how good the cause.
ReplyDeleteAbout McKamey Center, I think their dismal record speaks for itself. Any reader can find plenty of news about them on this site, links to stories, and information on the Internet. They have had money thrown at them from their inception yet they have still managed to screw up again and again. Just look at the $40,000+ they cost the city last summer in trying to bully the pet store simply because they are opposed to selling pets. They reek of animal rights philosophy and they are largely incompetent. If they would simply try to do their actual job well, instead of trying to run roughshod over animal owners, they might be better off.
I have to agree, McKamey does not win my vote, not that it matters. Their websitespecifically states that they are partnered with HSUS (think radical animal rights terrorist organization)although it lists "warm fuzzy" reasons. A contacted organization for a City should not be allowed to show any affiliation with any type of rescue or animal rights organization in any way if tax dollars fund it.
ReplyDeleteThis year, McKamey inacted a kennel licensing fee of $250 for anyone who keeps over 7 intact dogs. Now if you attend dogshows or have an aversion to being dictated to that you will spay or neuter your dog for health concerns (spay incontinence for one) then you will also pay a $50 fee PER DOG PER YEAR in ADDITION TO the kennel license fee!!! This is a penalty fee if ever there was one.
Folks in Hamilton County, BEWARE! If you are annexed, you will be ripe for the picking. Time to fight these laws is before they are enacted. All microchipped dogs should be licensed for FREE. If they show up loose, then fine the owner. Responsible owners do not let their dogs run free and are not part of the supposed pet overpopulation problem. This is just another way to further the agenda of the animal rights movement and unfairly tax residents.