The politics of the dog park
A group of small-town Canterbury dog park regulars are enforcing their own interpretation of the rules to keep undesired dogs out of the facility.
The ‘‘microcosm of society’’ has developed at the Millton Memorial Dog Park in Rangiora after the Waimakariri District Council formed two areas in the park – one for large dogs and another for small dogs.
But what size does a dog have to be before it is considered large or small?
The council did not have specific parameters for the park, leaving it to people’s common sense to interpret the use of each area, a spokesman said.
The result is the formation of a group – dubbed the ‘‘Lap Ladies’’ by some – who are taking matters into their own hands.
‘‘I would just go up and say to them, ‘look, I’m sorry, this is the small dog park only, the big dog park is over there and you just can’t bring your big dog in here’,’’ Sharon Thompson, a member of the group, said.
‘‘You’ve just got to be polite . . . Some of these dogs are worth $5000 or $6000 and if a big dog comes in here and it’s a bit rough, even if it’s a puppy and it’s big, it still can’t come in here.’’
The group’s unofficial leader is 80-year-old Julia Robinson, known as ‘‘the mayoress’’. She visits the park daily with 2-yearold bichon frise Theo, ‘‘a very quiet dog’’.
She was adamant the group ‘‘don’t police’’ the park.
‘‘If somebody comes in with a dog that is what we consider to be big, which is probably from a young [cocker] spaniel up [they are asked to leave].
‘‘None of us are nasty people, we just like it to be good.’’
The group’s activity has led some dog owners to wonder what part of the park their dog should be going to.
Jess Cavanagh, who owns 1-year-old ‘‘boisterous’’ French bulldog Gaston, said she often had to leave the park when he went to play with other dogs and they attacked him.
The park’s rules state that dogs must be under control, but also that those who excessively bark or are aggressive to others should be removed.
‘‘He’s very excited and he wants to play with the little dogs. There are some other dogs at the dog park that don’t like his high energy,’’ Cavanagh said.
‘‘I had to leave [the small dog area] one day because he was bleeding from his neck, because he’d been bitten several times . . . I feel like I’m leaving all the time when, actually, it should be the other dogs that have to leave.’’
On one occasion, Thompson held Gaston by the collar, which Cavanagh took to mean she was ‘‘basically waiting for me to come get him and take him away’’. Thompson said it was just to try to calm him down.
Robinson said there was a French bulldog that was a ‘‘monster’’ and its owner had been asked to take it out several times. Another French bulldog was allowed to stay.
‘‘One’s called Bear, he’s a lovely one.‘‘
Another regular at the park, who did not want to be identified, said it was ‘‘an interesting social exercise’’ watching the varying scenarios play out at the park.
‘‘It’s not like a fairground ride where if you fit under the stick you’re in . . . These women are inclined to challenge people if they bring in a dog which they deem to be slightly bigger.
‘‘It’s this lovely microcosm of society where there are no actual rules, so people have to start establishing and making their own.’’
The council spokesman said there had been ‘‘a couple’’ of complaints stemming from the park, ‘‘with big dogs attacking little dogs and little dogs attacking big dogs’’.