OHMIDOG! : Council members agree leash fine too high

Councilman Ed Reisinger agreed tonight that $1,000 was too heavy a fine to impose on people caught with their dogs off leash and vowed*to have the measure — part of a bill he introduced — amended, lowering the fine to $250.
Reisinger addressed scores of*South Baltimore residents gathered under the gazebo at Riverside Park, most of them angry about*the ten-fold increase in fines approved as part of a revision of the city’s animal law, many of them interested in setting aside a portion of the park in which dogs can run freely during designated times.
Both Reisinger and William Cole, the council member representing Federal Hill who also addressed the crowd, said they believed leash laws were necessary, and neither seemed too interested in pursuing designating off leash hours at city parks, as several members of the crowd proposed.
But they said the city was intent on creating new dog parks — fenced in areas in which dogs can roam off leash.
As of now, there is only one dog park in the city of Baltimore, built and maintained by a community group. A city-funded dog park is expected to open this summer in Latrobe Park in Locust Point, and at its groundbreaking last fall, Mayor Sheila Dixon promised as many as eight dog parks in the city.
Reisinger expressed willingness to work with any group interested in trying to*bringing a dog park to Riverside Park, but could provide no time frame on how long that project might take.
Several of those attending said there was a need for dog owners to behave more responsibly and keep a closer eye on their dogs so that they don’t run up to strangers who might be frightened by them.
Most, though, wanted an answers as to why the fine was increased so extremely — from $100 to $1,000 — and with so little effort by the city to inform the public about it. Those answers never really came.


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