Editor:
Unleash some context please!
"Unleashed" (March 7) seems willing to kick the hornet's nest. People and their dogs is a touchy thing.
Freedom can be found in one of its finest forms running on the beach. For some of us our freedom is lived vicariously through our dogs. Call it therapy if you want. That exercise of freedom runs a little contrary to control sometimes. That said, teaching ourselves and our dogs some discipline is very rewarding on a lot of levels. A well-behaved dog is a good reflection on its human.
I would like to see some real data regarding the number of seals harmed by dogs locally and relate that to the number of seals that get killed or harassed by more "natural" means.
Another big miss in this article is the effect that dogs have on local plovers. The actual nest failures that are due to human activity recorded in the local annual reports are extremely low and dogs even lower. Actually lower than all the rest of the "natural" nest terminations including windblown sand. A little context would be more genuine.
The tired, over-flogged, nonsensical guilt trip surfaced once again blaming us for ravens hanging at the beach. Like they would leave if we would all just go away. I see them out there scavenging on washed up carcasses, not French fries and leftover Ding-Dongs. Our big mistake is still letting researchers lead these clever predators to the plover nests.
So unless we are going to bubble wrap all these creatures and keep them alive at all costs (not exactly "natural") let's make sure we protect and enjoy these freedoms that encourage us to have a healthy interaction with our environment.
And dude, don't let your dog pee on someone's picnic.*
*
Uri Driscoll, Arcata
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