“Dear PoPville,
(Last week) my kids (9, 5, 2) planned a lil picnic on Kingman Island. We went for a stroll on the nature trail and my two older kids got a couple feet ahead of me – then I heard my 5yo screaming in terror.
Sprinted to the clearing and found an unleashed dog chasing him…. yes, right under one of the numerous “Protect Native Wildlife / Leash Your Dog” signs. He got knocked down, was completely terrified and is still upset the next day.
In the couple hours that we were on the island we saw at least a dozen unleashed dogs – the owners walk around with this weird defensive entitlement, they can clearly read the signs, they’ve just decided that their desire to let their dogs run around matters more than the rules or the wildlife or the freedom of other people to use the space without having to deal with their dogs.
Please spare me “But my dog….” Nobody cares. We don’t know your dog. If you want your dog to get to chase squirrels or whatever, drive out to the countryside. Kingman Island is not your farm.
BTW the owner tried to explainify to me that it was my kid’s fault because he was waving a stick around. Ma’am… it is a nature preserve. It is the right place for a child to have a stick. It is not the right place for unleashed dogs. Why do people do this???