Photo from woodlandsphila.org
Last month, when West Philly Local shared details about The Woodlands’ community survey, many of our readers took to the comments section to air grievances about off-leash dogs running around the site. The general consensus is that off-leash dogs are dangerous to visitors, as well as other animals on the site.
In response, Erica Maust, The Woodlands’ program & communications coordinator, reached out both in the comment section and directly to West Philly Local to remind the community of The Woodlands’ strict no off-leash dogs policy, as well as promote its Dog Walker membership. Maust confirmed that off-leash dogs as a major concern for the grounds, and that concern was reflected in “an overwhelming number of [survey] responses from neighbors and community members.”
According to Maust, off-leash dogs are “never permitted, or welcome, at The Woodlands,” both by city law and management policy, no exceptions. All dogs passing through its gates must be leashed, and if they are not, Maust said, Woodlands staff will ask the owner to leash their dog. If they’re a repeat offender, they’re asked to leave the grounds.
“No one should feel unsafe or uncomfortable when visiting the grave of a loved one, enjoying an afternoon walk, or teaching their children to ride a bike,” she told West Philly Local. “Not everyone likes or feels comfortable around dogs, and we want all of our visitors to feel as though The Woodlands is a safe place to visit.”
But, she noted, The Woodlands employs a small staff on the 54-acre site, which makes fully enforcing its policy difficult. So The Woodlands also rely on members visiting the grounds to help implement or make other visitors aware of its leash policy when a staff member may not be present, Maust said.
In an effort to raise awareness about the policy and ways members could help, Maust said The Woodlands’ created a Dog Walker membership, good for one person and their dog(s). The benefits of this membership level, which costs $75, include invites to members-only events and Doggy “Yappy Hours”, discounted ticket pricing, occasional exclusive after-dark access to the grounds, and one “I LOVE THE WOOFLANDS” dog leash.
“The dog-walking community is an especially important membership group to us, because so many people who live nearby rely on access to The Woodlands to walk their dogs daily. We recognize this, and we love that we can allow neighbors to walk their dogs at The Woodlands,” she said. “We also hope that these neighbors and their pets recognize that The Woodlands is an incredible resource that’s right in their backyard, and will use the space respectfully.”
The Dog Walker membership also includes access to the Dog of the Month program, in which visitors can submit a photo of their dog on the grounds via social media using the hashtag #wooflands. The social media campaign “has helped us raise awareness for our leash policy for all of our visitors and our followers on social media, and we hope it will lead to fewer problems and incidents with off-leash dogs at The Woodlands,” Maust said.
–Annamarya Scaccia
May 22nd, 2014 at 10:56 am
It’s ironic that the picture on the Woodlands website for the “Dog Walker Membership” is of an unleashed dog.
I used to have a community garden plot there but stopped using it after a close friend was bitten by a loose pitbull. I adore dogs, but I don’t like strange dogs who may or may not be aggressive running up to me. I would love it if the leash law was actually enforced.
May 22nd, 2014 at 11:03 am
as a dog walker and pet sitter i fully support the effort to keep dogs on leash in the woodlands. i don’t even take dogs there.
May 22nd, 2014 at 11:09 am
My dog does not attack people. It’s not his fault the human world is insecure about animals. I let him off the leash and he bothers no one. Binary social laws are anathema to community.
May 22nd, 2014 at 11:32 am
How about some leashes in the Clark Park dog bowl too?
May 22nd, 2014 at 12:18 pm
The great majority of people, like the great majority of dogs, most especially those off leash in Clark Park and the Woodlands, are harmless and indeed help to keep the area safe. My off leash dog protected a middle school child from getting attacked by a group of teens, for example, simply by running up and barking at those who were attacking him. Had my dog been on leash, she could not have helped the child out because there is no way I’d have run up to the scene and stopped them: too dangerous. The teens immediately ran away. No one was hurt.
The principle of leashing all because of a rare few potentially aggressive is wrong-minded for a number of reasons: first, it’s simply unjust; applied to humans, we’d all be leashed or jailed so that none of us could ever hurt each other. second, an aggressive dog on a leash is no safer than if off leash. the great majority of dog attacks are by leashed dogs that pull away from their owners. if you think an aggressive, powerful dog–the sort that would pose a danger to others–is held in check by a leash, you are sadly mistaken. the issue is with aggressive dogs, not with leashes. dog owners who know their dogs to be aggressive need to pay close attention to their dogs and the situations into which they put them, leashed or otherwise, for the safety of all involved, including the aggressive dog itself. There is no reason to curtail the freedom and happiness of the majority for the ills of the very few. Bad principle; weak, cowardly thinking. Not a good way to live.
May 22nd, 2014 at 12:21 pm
The law says the dogs must be on a leash at all times. Period. No room for discussion on this matter.
May 22nd, 2014 at 12:30 pm
All of you who walk your dogs off leash: my partner is a veterinarian at an emergency clinic. Every single day he sees several dogs who were severely injured because their owners did not use a leash: broken limbs, internal injuries, skin de-gloving, and so on.
With all of these dogs that he sees, day-in and day-out, there is always the same refrain: “my dog was always great off leash!” That is, until the one day when something unexpected something happen. They were spooked, an unfamiliar squirrel needed to be chased, whatever. In a dog’s long lifetime, it just takes one unexpected event, and your dog is either dead or in severe pain. That is, unless it is another animal or person that takes the brunt.
(And, needless to say, there is a very true stereotype that those owners who don’t like leashes tend to be the same owners not willing to pay for the medical care to fix a very treatable broken limb or whatever it is.)
Every one of those owners has some sort of excuse, but it usually boils down to valuing their own needs more than the dog’s. They are simply not willing to do the responsible work it takes to live with an animal, and yes, that includes using a leash when you live in a crowded city.
May 22nd, 2014 at 1:00 pm
“There is no reason to curtail the freedom and happiness of the majority for the ills of the very few.”
Post this next time there’s a community meeting about a new development project in West Philly.
May 22nd, 2014 at 1:18 pm
@culture of reason “dog owners who know their dogs to be aggressive need to pay close attention to their dogs and the situations into which they put them, leashed or otherwise, for the safety of all involved, including the aggressive dog itself.”
It’s very difficult to do this when your aggressive dog is approached by an unleashed animal. When my dog was still around, he was very dog-aggressive. It frustrated me to no end that dog owners did not realize the danger they were putting their pets in by allowing them to run unleashed near mine.
The idea that only big and powerful dogs are dangerous is bizarre. The idea that leashes aren’t going to restrain aggressive dogs is patently false. What’s true is that all dogs bite. All dogs are easily distracted. We live in a dense urban area that’s fraught with danger both for and from the darling carnivore at your side. It’s really not too much to use a leash.
May 22nd, 2014 at 2:06 pm
“There is no reason to curtail the freedom and happiness of the majority for the ills of the very few.”
The majority of people do not have dogs. Dog owners are the minority. Most people want to visit the cemetery or park and be able to relax, and not constantly look over their shoulder, wondering if an off-leash dog is going to attack them, stick their nose in their food, walk all over their stuff, etc. If you want to own a dog, you need to control it with regards to the safety of the majority of people. That is how being part of society works.
You know who else doesn’t like off-leash dogs? Responsible dog owners who don’t want random dogs attacking their leashed dogs.
To the people who keep saying, “well MY dog is nice so the law should not apply to me”; laws are not passed subjectively. They can’t make a law of what each and every individual dog should do. I’m sorry, but your dog is not a special snowflake. The laws apply to everyone so they can protect everyone; that inclues you and your dog.
When you flout the law and say that you are above it, you sound like a gun nut who insists on carrying an assault rifle into Chipotle or Starbucks to ‘prove’ how responsible you are. Sure, you haven’t shot anyone yet, but you make everyone uncomfortble, and they want you to just go away.
May 22nd, 2014 at 6:10 pm
All the people I know in West Phil who walk their dogs off leash are quite responsible. In fact, for a dog to be off leash with an owner means that the dog is well treated. It takes work and care to socialize an off leash dog: duh. Poorly treated dogs with negligent owners are always to be found on leashes, tugging and straining, sometimes with cruel spikes around their throats. What’s disgusting is to see leashed dogs being jerked and snapped by owners who don’t train their dogs, yanking the poor animals as they gasp and strain to be free. These are the dogs that are dangerous.
A poorly treated or poorly trained dog will run away if off leash.
What you should fear are poorly trained and poorly treated dogs. They may be runaways or they may have crappy negligent owners who don’t give their dogs sufficient exercise, drag them out for short walks while they stand and text. Crappy owners who put their dogs on leash and then make them run alongside them while they bike, painful and dangerous and harmful to the dog’s health. pull them for short walks that barely exercise them.
All dogs do not bite, any more than all humans bite. That’s hysteria and propaganda. I’ve had dogs for twenty years and haven’t had one that bit anyone.
Dogs are not stupid. They don’t run up to aggressive dogs on leash. You will however see straining unsocialized leashed dogs pulling and tugging to go after unleashed or leashed dogs.
Off leash dogs are well-treated dogs. Leashes are not in the least a protection against aggressive dogs. If one has an aggressive dog he or she should keep them away from people or other dogs, period. If your dog is so aggressive on leash that it attacks other dogs that come near it, then it will also attack a child that comes near it. That’s exactly what I’m talking about, in fact: fear the leashed aggressive dogs. I am tired of crazy people making up stories about unleashed dogs. In fact, the last time I was in the emergency room, with a rescue dog, there was a badly injured woman with her two badly injured little dogs, attacked by a pair of leashed dogs whose owner couldn’t control them. There was a story last year about a dog tied to a post in West Phil that got loose and attacked someone. There was a story today about four pit bulls that killed a little boy: they were confined in a back yard. Please provide specific examples of off leashed dogs that were on walks with owners and attacked others. I’ve been going to Clark Park and Woodland for nearly twenty years and know of exactly one case, between dogs, in the bowl.
Meanwhile, the reasoning stands. If we agree with the principle that if one dog can hurt then all dogs must be chained, the same should hold for humans.
May 22nd, 2014 at 6:24 pm
To the dog-less majority, another person’s dog is (at best) just messy entertainment … like an X-box that poops where my kids play. There is a mechanism for letting your dog off-leash. It’s called a dog park. If having your pooch roam free is that important to you, find one, organize to create one, move where there is one, or realize that your style of dog ownership is not compatible with shared public spaces and don’t have a dog. If I had a dog, I would totally want to let it run free, it would seem like torture not to. Thus, I don’t have a dog.
May 22nd, 2014 at 6:34 pm
I generally don’t have a issue with off lead dogs, but in The Woodlands which is a private cemetery if they are willing to allow dogs at all with one of the few rules being that the dog has to be on a leash I can certainly live with that.
May 22nd, 2014 at 8:10 pm
I was attacked by a dog as a child.
I have worked very hard to be okay – and even friendly – with friend’s and acquaintance’s dogs. I understand that they are family members. I enjoy some of their canine company.
I am okay with dogs in Woodlands that are off leash but that leave me alone. I am uncomfortable, and there is a dog park at 48th St, but I deal.
However, I have been struck unaware from behind by multiple off leash dogs at the Woodlands. I am not okay with that. There have not been any injuries, but I feel unsafe. When I have broached the topic, I am shamed by owners, because I am, of course, the ridiculous one, who wants animals to be caged up and not enjoy the fresh air and greenery that I do.
There is a dog park at 48th St. Dogs can have fresh air and greenery there. I know that’s not super convenient for some people, but like me, they both made a decision where to live and whether or not to have a dog. I don’t want to be unreasonable, but I also don’t want to be constantly afraid that the next dog will not be quite so innocuous.
May 23rd, 2014 at 10:35 am
I too was attacked by a dog as a child: scary. I was also as a child attacked by humans on more than one occasion. As an adult, I have been attacked by humans, once at knifepoint. Thus I have had to overcome my fear of humans, which has been far greater than my fear of dogs. As it turns out, humans are more likely to commit violent, irrational acts than are dogs. However, one cannot therefore conclude that humans must be kept in confinement any more or less than one can therefore conclude that all dogs must be punished for the acts of a few–and those few acts are typically due to abusive humans who do not treat animals with respect. Dogs that are not abused do not randomly attack humans; whereas humans that are not abused do randomly attack humans, dogs, deer, cats, cattle, etc. Humans are far more frightening and dangerous than dogs, on average. Yet we do not worry about being in Woodland Cemetery, Clark Park, or elsewhere where there are other humans. Life goes on. We need to be less frightened and more generous minded. There is risk to being alive.
May 23rd, 2014 at 10:38 am
People with children for some reason feel immensely entitled to rule public space, to consign other living beings to chains and confinement, etc. The only children I’ve ever seen who fear dogs are those whose parents fear dogs; they pass this contagion along and act hysterically if a dog is in sight. I always fear sorry for their kids who are compelled to be raised in fear rather than delight in the world’s diverse beings.
May 23rd, 2014 at 10:50 am
red dog: I agree with you.
as for “dog parks”–they’re absurd, dirty, crawling with germs, tiny, crowded, boring for dogs and humans alike. Perhaps we should build such parks for those who are afraid of dogs. They could stand in it or run from side to side and feel safe knowing that they are free of dogs.
May 23rd, 2014 at 11:58 am
This is so frustrating. Again, another dog friendly policy. Dogs get to go somewhere and the only requirement is a leash. If only I had it that easy!
Here I am with an ocelot and even with a leash I can’t bring Babou in to the Woodlands.
Leash your dogs and enjoy the areas you can go. Don’t take it for granted. This oppressed ocelot owner (OOO) knows.
May 23rd, 2014 at 12:06 pm
I like dogs, but their owners are way out of control. If you choose to have wildlife in the city, the rest of us shouldn’t suffer because you can’t make real friends. Put it on a leash.
May 23rd, 2014 at 12:09 pm
Felix: Dogs aren’t wildlife. Ocelots are, and it’s a disgrace for people to attempt to turn them into pets. Meanwhile, you sound like such a lovely person; I’m sure I could get lots of good advice from you on how to make friends!
May 23rd, 2014 at 12:15 pm
Oh sure. Act all superior because your dog was domesticated generations ago.
Way to bandwagon on the pet train.
May 23rd, 2014 at 12:19 pm
It’s also a disgrace for people to turn dogs into pets. It’s even worse when we try to make them into people. They’re animals, just like cows and sheep and pigs. They should be treated as such.
And, I have no problem making friends. You should have seen my last barbeque! Not only did everyone leave full and happy, there are two fewer stray dogs menacing the neighborhood. That’s a win/win for everyone.
May 23rd, 2014 at 12:31 pm
This thread has gotten so speciest.
May 23rd, 2014 at 12:43 pm
Anyone who says they have no problem making friends probably knows this because he is constantly obliged to make new ones having alienated the former ones. As for cows, sheep, and pigs: I can’t recall the last time I saw one on a leash.
May 23rd, 2014 at 12:44 pm
@Archer: I regret having to play the ocelot card but you left me no choice.
May 23rd, 2014 at 12:56 pm
You haven’t seen cows, sheep and pigs off-leash in the city (except in the butcher’s case), because we have sense enough to ban them. We don’t operate under the illusion that they’re our friends and family, and strip them of their nature and dignity. Why do you think dogs eat out of the litter box? They WANT to die. They’re just not smart enough to understand toxoplasmosis won’t kill them.
May 23rd, 2014 at 1:01 pm
“Why do you think dogs eat out of the litter box?”
Because they can’t get delivery.
May 23rd, 2014 at 1:16 pm
@culture of reason. Do you deal with most problems by saying “I’m right and the rest of the world is wrong”?
May 23rd, 2014 at 1:45 pm
Locust Street: haha, I actually use reason-hence the title. May I ask, in turn, if you have ever tried it, or do you always attempt to “win” an argument by attacking the person who is attempting to engage in reasoned discourse?
May 23rd, 2014 at 1:47 pm
This argument has been won a long time ago. You just stubbornly refuse to see that.
May 23rd, 2014 at 1:50 pm
@Archer: another good one.
@Felix: has anyone pointed out your fixation on friendship issues? The litter box thing is a little freaky, too.
May 23rd, 2014 at 2:10 pm
The whole idea that one “wins” in reasoned discourse is misguided. The idea is that one engages in an exchange of reasons and evidence, arguments and counterarguments, in an attempt to arrive at provisional consensus. That takes patience, intelligence, and an open mind. If you re-read my posts, you will see that I am trying to point out that the current arguments for leashing dogs are invalid. I have not yet seen anyone take up that argument as yet. If you wish to engage in reasoned discourse in a meaningful way, you would address my argument rather than attempt to divert attention to talking about me or pronouncing the argument “won.”
May 23rd, 2014 at 2:46 pm
I have no fixation with friendship issues. I do not suffer the delusion that my livestock is somehow a friend or member of the family, or that it has some special right to inflict its presence on human beings. A dog is no different than a pig, sheep or cow. If that’s your choice in companions, fine, but don’t expect humans to make special accommodations for your little friends. As for the litter box thing, that’s what dogs do. Indeed, other than as food, the only useful characteristic of dogs is their willingness to clean the litter box.
May 23rd, 2014 at 4:54 pm
[deleted by admin]
May 23rd, 2014 at 5:21 pm
Current laws compelling dog owners to leash their dogs, however, remain valid and someone should start actually enforcing them and punishing dog owners who refuse to leash their dogs.
Move out to the country if you don’t want to have to obey them; in the city you have to share space with the majority of people who just think your off leash dog is a nuisance at best, dangerous at worst.
May 23rd, 2014 at 5:33 pm
Well, so much for the veneer of reason–one vile, violent comment (deleted by admin) and now “if you don’t like it, move out.” I recall these responses back in the day of anti-war protesting as well. Humans do not like to share their freedom. The more they can chain and confine and have power over others, the happier they imagine they will be. We have much to learn from the other beings on this earth, who work only to eat and feed their young, and spend the rest of their time in play or relaxation. They therefore don’t spend their time having violent or punitive thoughts about controlling others.
May 23rd, 2014 at 5:53 pm
“Humans do not like to share their freedom” Says the owner of a domesticated animal, kept confined to human habitat, an existence far removed from its evolution and nature. Damn, that’s some good irony.
Yes, give your dog a run off its leash. Give it a taste of the free existence it yearns for. Then take that freedom away. The more more can chain and confine and have power over your dog, the happier they imagine it will be.
May 23rd, 2014 at 5:57 pm
No irony. A rescue dog, which would otherwise have been killed. The dog is as close to free as it can be in this culture and it is, indeed, a domesticated species, just like you. I doubt if we let you run free in the wild that you’d do very well either. So it goes.
By the way, is it now the case that you are now agreeing with me about leashing?! Very good!
May 23rd, 2014 at 6:00 pm
not sure what you meant to say in that last sentence: ” The more more can chain and confine and have power over your dog, the happier they imagine it will be.” Sounds like you may be freeing yourself from language.
meanwhile, I agree that it would be better not to confine animals at all, but that can’t happen until we have a larger change in culture. so we have found still more common ground: excellent!
May 23rd, 2014 at 6:25 pm
ps felix: Perhaps you’d be relieved to know that my dog chooses to stay with me. He’s off leash after all. If he didn’t want to be with me, he would run away. When I walk around the park or the city, he travels along. He likes to go out, but he also likes to come home.
In fact, there have been a few occasions where he has ended up outside (home repairmen not paying attention to him because he’s so well behaved). In each of these instances, he comes to the front and back door barking to be let in; in one case, he waited at the front door until I came home from work. That’s the great thing about off leash dogs. They do have some freedom, though not as much as if they could have if they were able to open and close doors. Perhaps you could invent something like that.
May 23rd, 2014 at 7:03 pm
I love dogs and walking them. It is very good for dogs, behavior-wise, to learn to heel both on a leash and off-leash. I let the dogs I walk off-leash at times, but close by me. If people approach I call the dog and quickly leash them. Usually, if the other person nearby doesn’t mind my dog being off-leash they’ll tell me it’s ok. The important thing for me is that I practice good etiquette regarding the animals I care for. If they need a good run, I find a field outside of town and practice fetch with them. I know the personalities of the dogs I walk, and they’re lovely. I don’t expect others to assume this though.
A dear friend of mine lost her old cat when a man refused to leash his dog. He would bring his rescue dog to a lot behind her house. She asked him politely not to, because the rental’s yard wasn’t secure, and her old cat liked to lay out in the sun. The man agreed, but returned a few weeks later with his dog off-leash. The cat was out, the dog saw it, got excited, and caught and killed it before the old thing could escape. So tragic. And unnecessary. Let’s all encourage one another be mindful of the law, (or to make an effort to cheat without being noticed by our neighbors), and practice good leashing etiquette together. Cheers!
May 23rd, 2014 at 8:13 pm
“Sounds like you may be freeing yourself from language.” It sure does. That’s because I quoted your sentence word-for-word, only substituting “your dog” for “others,” and “it” for “they.” Yes, it was nonsensical gibberish when I wrote it, because it was what YOU wrote. It’s just that your narcissistic personality disorder won’t let you see your gibberish for what it is.
BTW, rescue dogs are great. Sure some will tell you they’re difficult, but a few hours in a well-tended slow cooker and there will always be a couple in the crowd who swear it’s the best pulled-pork they’ve ever had.
May 23rd, 2014 at 8:30 pm
@Shane Lane: We are in general agreement. I too, if someone looks afraid of dogs, will go through the symbolic process of chaining her to assuage the fears of the phobics and the power-hungry (see Felix the Cat for an example of the latter). That said, if we are obliged to confine and attend dogs, we should also be obliged to confine and attend cats, who are one of the few beings that kill purely for sport, like humans. I am not making that argument myself, but I think those who argue for chaining up dogs should also argue for confining and leashing cats, who are doing real ecological damage by their sport-killing of large numbers of birds. Birds, like bees, are our main pollinators, and both are under severe environmental stress.
May 23rd, 2014 at 8:47 pm
Oh, I am hungry, but not for power. Got any more of them rescue dogs?
May 23rd, 2014 at 9:05 pm
Felix, I think you have made my case: people are more frightening than dogs, any day.
May 24th, 2014 at 6:39 pm
Hi C of R- for folks who choose an indoor/outdoor life for their cats, there is the very real risk that their pets’ lives will be shortened considerably. They don’t need to be leashed though, because they pose no mortal threat to humans. Yes, cats are detrimental to native bird populations, and people do need to be educated about this sad fact. Most cat owners in town have house-cats that you and I will never see. It’s the risk-takers who don’t respect the local ecology and refuse to practice good etiquette by keeping cats inside that are troublesome, and who are often heart-broken when speeding cars, cruel humans, or dogs kill their pet. I cannot blame the cats for these issues and don’t believe that it is reasonable to anthropomorphize cats. They do not kill for sport. They kill because of very deep, natural instinct. Sigh.