Beware of Birder -- Dogs In City Parks Are Being Watched

Mistress Chilli's devoted assistant, Diane, attended a most enlightening meeting of the leaders of many of the dog parks throughout the five boroughs of New York City collectively known as NYC DOG. We came back with a number of great story leads which will keep us busy for a good while. For now, however, kudos to Bob Marino, head of NYC DOG, who gave everyone a head's up on the following front-page headline in the New York Post today:

"Ruff Justice" (an article about Orrin Tilevitz, bird watcher, dog hater)http://www.nypost.com/seven/05102009/news/regionalnews/he_shooed_the_pooch_168519.htm

Mr. Tilevitz is an avid bird watcher who truly feels dogs are the scurge of city parks. He has a particular, eh, bone to pick with the dogs in Prospect Park. Like many parks throughout New York City, Prospect Park avails themselves of designated "off leash hours" (before 9am and after 9pm) where dogs can run off-leash. All other times they are supposed to be leashed, and Orrin is a one-man police force to track these violators down. For some time now, it's been an open secret in Prospect Park that Mr. Tilevitz hides in bushes, behind trees (some reports say even IN trees) to tape violators who have their dogs off-leash during undesignated times in undesignated areas.

Hmmm...how does Mistress Chilli weigh in on this? Well, she'd mentioned that there were rumors of people hiding in bushes and trees a few years back in an article in New York Tails Magazine based on several trusted sources reporting as such. The real question is: does Mr. Tilevitz have a legitamet complaint?

As much as Mistress Chilli loves dogs and has been a supporter of off-leash hours for quite a while, she has to say, yes, he might. She has personally (and often) observed dogs running around off-leash in Central Park outside of the "9 to 9" hours, and in areas where they should not be, such as the bridle path, where an occassional horse may come by (not a good meeting.) She has also seen dog owners who think it is 'funny' to see their dogs run into a pack of pigeons to scatter them, or to chase a squirrel up a tree. So yes, there are some dog owners who just don't get it.

But, then again, there are some parents who just don't get that their little darlings cannot run wild, either. Indeed, Diane was on her way to a friend's mom's wake in Queens yesterday and got plowed by a pig-tailed girl on a pink bike on the sidewalk. As she picked leaves out of her hair from the bush she was thrown into (by the way, the little girl kept going) her mother shot Diane a dirty look and said "well, I tried to tell you to watch out." (!!!!) Now Diane didn't have the best parents in the world in her early years, but suffice it to say if she did such a thing not only would the next thing she'd see would be the knuckle-side of her mother's hand, but she would be dragged to the victim, made to apologize, and probably had her bike taken away for the rest of the summer. She's not condoning this now, but the girl should have been a.) kept under control in the first place and b.) made to apologize and ask if the victim (me) was okay.

So, how does this relate back to the off-leash dog question? Unfortunately, it only takes one dog and dog owner to come across someone like Mr. Tilevitz to start a civil war. NYC DOG members, by and large, are impressively self-policing and will come down hardest on each other when they hear of an infraction. But not everyone is a member of NYC DOG in New York City, and that's a shame.

Is Mr. Tilevitz overreacting, oh, perhaps just a little bit? I'd say so. He probably should be arrested for stalking and invasion of privacy, and perhaps find another hobby in addition to bird watching. The parks of New York City are, indeed, blessed with wildlife, including wonderful species of birds. Dogs should not be allowed to harrass the birds (nor should anyone else be allowed to harrass the birds, for that matter) and it is incumbant upon the dog owners, or whoever is in control of the dog, to stop them from doing so.

But Mr. Tilevitz, with all due respect, it may be time for you to dig down and examine your dog issues. Hat's off to you for trying to protect the birds of the parks, but you may be getting a wee too obsessed-much?