“Am I wrong to expect any kind of social decorum during this epidemic?”

Photo by PoPville flickr user Robert Lintott

“Dear PoPville,

I’m writing because of multiple instances of dogs being off leash in parks during this pandemic. I was a dog owner, my dog passed away two month ago, so I understand a dog’s need for exercise, however, we’ve had multiple instances of dogs running up to our 15 month old daughter while off leash. When asked to leashed their pets, owners repeated minimize the importance of social distancing (since now they need to get close to leash their dog if their dog keeps following us)

not to mention general rule following of leashing their animals. The fact that animals have been getting Covid-19 as of this week at the Bronx Zoo is also disconcerting. I’m not sure what kind of dog owner lets their pet run up to a 15 month old child, regardless of the current situation. Am I wrong to expect any kind of social decorum during this epidemic?”