Gloucester off leash beach petition supporters!

free the dogs

I thank the petition organizers for their effort. Dogs need a place to run, swim, and play, and Gloucester beaches, especially Good Harbor, provide a great open space to run. Unfortunately, many dogs like mine, do not particularly like dog parks. She just smells around for awhile then wants to leave.

Thank you for organizing this petition. We need to continue the
tradition of allowing our dogs to safely use our beaches in
the off season. A lot of us love it here cause we can share our beautiful
beaches and woods with our fellow Cape Anners and our dogs in a
a sane and responsible way. Let's amend the current rule and hold each other responsible for
making the new ones work! Attend the City Council meeting on this topic November 12 at City Hall, 7 PM and let your City Councilors know you support responsible and reasonable leash laws in Gloucester. Let's keep our dogs running responsibly off season on our PUBLIC beaches!!

My dogs need to run!!!! The dog park is wonderful, but my three need wide open spaces to run, run, run!!! I am a responsible dog-owner, please do not punish the many for the bad behavior of the few.

Ridiculous.
Just another way to get our money through animals that are part of our lives. We should be able to exercise our dogs freely.

dogs are a big part of peoples lives, and it is insane to think that pups get a good workout on a leash... people adopt and care for animals to give them
a better life, and everyone is capable of being responsible for their animal off leash.

I would like to thank all the ignorant dog owners that have helped to make Gloucester a "shitty city"!

If dog owners don't like the city ordinance, either move or don't get a dog...The non dog owners are sick and tired of all the mess and noise! When your dog craps on the beach, where do you think that it ends up...polluting our waterways!

ATTENTION ALL DOG OWNERS!!! (Approx 1820 Registered Gloucester Pooches)
In case you haven't heard, there is a new ordinance being voted on on Nov 12 at City Hall Banning all dogs from being off leash anywhere except at the dog park. This would be a total injustice to pet owners, and their pooches. For those of you that do not understand the dynamics of Dog parks, they are great for our pets, BUT when you have too many at one time, in a small enclosed area, they can take on pack mentality, and thus cause problems, never mind the actual issues of dog owners in such close proximity to each other (lol). There is also the risk of not being able to keep the dogpark clean/shovelled during the winter (lets face it, you cannot really plow the area...). We should be able to allow dog owners and their pets the right to head to the beaches during off season to be able to run for more than 35 yards at a stretch, in the open air, and to be able to jump and frolic in the ocean. Please sign and share this petition for all dog owners in the city.
FYI There were Approx 1,820 dogs registered in the City of Gloucester for 2012. That is an awful lot of dogs to jam in the dogpark daily. even 1/4 would be approx 500. Most people that do not go to the dogpark usually take their pooches to the beaches as well as the trails and parks around town. Personally, I would be open to paying an annual fee to register my dog to be allowed on the beaches during the off season than to bring him to a dog park that sees upwards of over 500 dogs daily.And just so you know, I do go to the dog park with my Shepherd, and he has a great time, but when you start getting more than 20 dogs at a time in there, it can get very crowded (Between the dogs and owners), and all it takes is one dog to get scared or nervous, feeling closed in with now room to "Escape" from the attentions of a dog wanting to play to start seeing chaos. This doesn't mean that these dogs are vicious, or not well behaved, just that they are feeling enclosed and intimidated by other dogs and their personalities. Imagine you sitting at a Patriots game with obnoxious drunk excited fans around you. And you start feeling uncomfortable and need to take a breather, and they start following you around the section your sitting, and the security is not allowing people to leave their section... kinda like that...lol
As far as comments 7 & 8, Do you live on Good Harbor or Wingersheek? How can you hear any noise? The surf and wind in the Fall-winter months alone howl! Most dogs on the beaches are not barking, Dogs mostly bark looking for attention, or when they are cooped up, or Leashed meeting other dogs because they want to go greet them! As far as the mess, Most people pick up their pets mess, and there are others that pick up missed dog mess as well. We are a vigilante group, and the beaches are 1000 cleaner than the damn human slobs that leave NON BIODEGRADABLE bottles, plastic, cans, and other trash all over the beach each summer day! Now that is a travesty! Send your email, and I will send you pics from this summer from 6pm, and 6 amm of the beaches with all the trash. As far as polluting the waterways, where do you think your waste goes everytime you go the restroom my friends.... exactly...

let them run free on the beach from sept to april

I am not a dog owner, and am a regular beachgoer, on- and off-season. One of the most beautiful things about our beaches off-season are all the happy dogs running free!

When my dog got sick this summer and it looked like he might have a terminal illness (luckily it turned out to be treatable and he is doing fine), my first thought was "please let him live long enough to run free on Good Harbor Beach this fall". That's how special it is. Let's make Gloucester beaches officially open to dogs running free during the off season!

Not only do I come to visit the city , with my dog, I walk the beaches , all the time. I always pick up after my dog, and if another owner has missed something- I pick that up ,too. And while I'm walking, I carry a trash bag and remove whatever litter, I can carry. This is what a responsible dog owner does. And in all the years I have walked the beaches- I have never seen an altercation with the dogs. People are respectful and the dogs love the exercise. Please consider this petition.
Respectfully, Margaret Morey

Animals need space to run and play or why have them.

As many have said before please do not punish the dogs for a people problem. Dogs are ANIMALS as much as we treat them like our children because we love them it is wrong to try to contain them at all times. Leashes have a place and a purpose but any GOOD Dog owner knows the importance of letting there dog off leash for their and your peace of mind. It is essential to their health and wellness as well as mine. I have four dogs who love to roam and are friendly and well behaved I typically only go up into the woods where I would never put them on a leash that is the point of the woods for them and myself to get in touch with our wild side and RUN! My husband does love the beach in the winter as do they and everyone else who frequents with there dogs off leash.

Just because some do not wish to train their dogs should not be to the fault of all others this is more a people problem not a dog problem. Any issues I ever encounter tend to stem from the fact that dogs are uncomfortable on leashes because they cannot fend for themselves or be in control of themselves they need to interact and meet other dogs via free roaming to be comfortable with them . Owners who get tense make their dogs tense. Owners who get nervous make there dogs nervous. And not every dog is going to like each other just like we don't all like each other as humans. Every now and then we bark at each other and so do they, in no way am I advocating for dog fights but for a reasonable approach to this situation, why make dog owning more complicated it is a simple joy if you let it be.

I strongly suspect that those who keep squawking about dog noise, etc. don't realize their similarity to those who yell about the noise and behavior of children. If there were a place to complain about the sand kicking, wave splashing and the frolicking of kids, I imagine the annoyed few would be making plenty of phone calls and noise. The real issue is that they can't about kids, but they can about dogs. They just need to take a deep breath, ask themselves if this is really the battle they want to engage in when there are so many real injustices in the world to apply energy to, and let some love into their hearts!

You are all talking about a DOG, not a child! You may treat your DOG as a child but it is, and will always be, a DOG! I would assume that many DOG lovers are empty nesters! Get a life, and it isn't your DOG!

Dogs are people too and need to be outside running and playing with other dogs. Socialization is a big part of their health and vitality and needs to be "exercised" regularly. I appreciate the dog park, but it's not for everyone. Please sign this petition so that we don't lose a very valuable resource.

#19: - Are you insane!

This is exactly the kind of rediculous over-reaction I am talking about. I did not equate dogs and children, I equated the squawking of those who complain about dogs with the same kind of squawking that people do about kids (which leaves open the possibility that they are different people- that there are dog haters who love kids but don't question their hatred of dogs)... And what makes you so upset that you have to stoop to calling someone insane? What is insane is your over-reaction! Note that I am calling your reaction "insane", not you. I'll leave that to the professionals.

I believe this would be an over reaction type of measure. You will be punishing the many for the actions of a few. Dogs are not the issue. Irresponsible owners are

I have been to the Stage Fort Dog park, and I find that some dogs are threats to my dog, unlike the beach and the Goose Cove area.
I always pick up after my dog, and I value the social contact my dog experiences.

#18: -  

 Let some love in?? Seriously? When your 100 lb dog bulldozers a 5 year old on the beach because you can't control them, then tell me where the injustice is? Should a child be fearful of dogs because people can't control them. I'm so tired of hearing "oh not my dog, he/she's friendly" give me a break.