If you want to email Harry McInroy his email address is: mcinroh@halifax.ca
Sue Uteck is: utecks@halifax.ca
I was originally going to send this email to Sue Uteck only - to tell her how sorry I was to hear of how hard a time she obviously had at the city council meeting on Tuesday night trying to get more off-leash places for dog owners in the Halifax Regional Municipality.
It really is a shame that there aren't more dog owners/lovers in power in the municipality. If there were there wouldn't be people suggesting things at council meetings like muzzling dogs when they are offleash on a ball field. I was not present at the council meeting, so I am not aware of the
context of the statement - I only know what I read in the Chronicle Herald, but I am aware of the backlash that a statement like this can create.
I also know how disheartening a statement like this can be to people who are working very hard to make the lives of their chosen life companions - their dogs - as full, stimulating, interesting, social, fun, and well-rounded as they possibly can. That includes doing a lot of different activities -
which includes activities off-leash.
I am not a person who advocates off-leash activities everywhere or for dogs running free nilly-willy. I am interested in the safety of my companions #1 - which means that I want them tied to me. I am only interested in fighting for increasing ACCESS and AWARENESS and EDUCATION for those same animals - making statements like muzzling dogs in public does nothing but raise the ire of people you should be trying to placate come next election.
And Sue - I can completely understand how this issue has exhausted you! I think we dog lovers have been targeting the wrong people on city council - we should be trying to educate the Henry McInroy's, not lobbying the Sue Uteck's. I think you already understand the dog lovers, but I think there's a lot of other city councillors who obviously DO NOT, and that's where
ours - and by association - your (!) - problems lie with this issue.
So I will let all my dog friends know what I think about this issue, and hopefully they will tell all their dog friends, and so on and so on, and then we'll see what happens!
Thanks for all your hard work Sue!
Sincerely,
Joan Sinden (and Charlie and Leonard and Buttercup, and foster Daisy)
The soul is the same in all living creatures, although the body of each is different. - Hippocrates
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I think that the passage in the Old Testament that says God gave man dominion over animals has been mistranslated. People have interpreted this as saying God gave man the right to do whatever he wants to animals. I think what was meant was a mixture of stewardship and caring that a good moral person does. Dominion, NOT DOMINATION. - Jane Goodall
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