AJC > Sandy Springs > Blog > Archives > 2009 > February > 02
Monday, February 2, 2009
Holy Alpo! Does Sandy Springs really need a dog park?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Three years after it gained independence from Fulton County, the city remains one of the largest in metro Atlanta without a dedicated dog park.” — Text from a recent news story on ajc.com.
You know those times you read something, and even though you understand what you just read, you really don’t? I had to read the above line three times, because part of the brain saw a story that indicated a glaring unmet need in our little piece of heaven, but that was associated with a the phrase “a dedicated dog park.”
Holy Alpo — we’re one of the largest cities in the metro area without a dedicated dog park? Does PETA know this? Should Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer, be called in? And where exactly was Michael Vick when this took place?
Are we really getting our knickers in a twist because the mayor and city council have not acted swiftly to create an area where our dogs can gambol and enjoy nature off-leash? Is this how we’re going to spend our citizen-capitol?
We have three dogs — Jake, Sydney and Cody — and they love going to a dog park over in Dunwoody. They can run through the woods, sniff all manner of things I won’t discuss here and run with the pack. It’s wonderful and I would be giddy as a school girl if there was something like that closer to home. And I’m sure one day there will be — but I’m not losing sleep over it.
Yes, the city said it was behind building a dog park and I’m sure that will eventually come to pass. But last week when a neighbor saw a suspicious SUV repeatedly cruising the neighborhood and called the police I’m really happy a city officer showed up in a timely manner.
When a house up the street caught fire a couple of weeks ago I was likewise glad the city fire trucks arrived quickly. I’m glad to see the building that used to house Target is going to be used by the city for something so it doesn’t sit vacant in an economy that is short on retailers needing that much space.
So the fact that we hold the distinction of being the largest city in the metro area without a dog park, to me, is as relevant as Sandy Springs being the largest city of its size.
Like many I am looking forward to having a dog park closer to home — some day. Perhaps Jake, since he is the senior dog on the Osterman homestead and something of a celebrity, will be asked to christen the first shrub.
But I think even Jake knows there are more important places we can be expending our righteous indignation when it comes to our everyday lives.
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