“Dear PoPville,
I was at Wangari Gardens (Kenyon St and Warder Pl NW) in Park View with my son, trying to get some extra sledding in (that part was not super successful). There are often people letting their dogs run off-leash at this park. A woman (Saturday) brought two dogs who ran up to my son and started sniffing him. He freaked out and she called them off from across the property. I threw my hands up in a “WTF?” fashion and she agitatedly called back, “This is a park where people let their dogs run off-leash. They’re friendly! They came back as soon as I called them. Are you new here?”
Since we then collected our sleds and left the park, I would have liked to show our neighbor this part of the regs: “No person owning, keeping, or having custody of a dog in the District shall permit the dog to be on any public space in the District, other than a dog park established by section 9a of the Animal Control Act of 1979, passed on 2nd reading on September 20, 2005 (Enrolled version of Bill 16-28), unless the dog is firmly secured by a substantial leash. The leash shall be held by a person capable of managing the dog.” Wangari isn’t a dog park and it isn’t designated as such.
I wouldn’t have said anything if it weren’t for the “are you new here?” Get leashes.”