Editorial 1.5, May 1999, by Deirdre Helfferich Dogs and the E.C.A. The Spring E.C.A. meeting was held on a snowy Sunday, and Hartung Hall was packed. The promise of barbeque afterward helped to keep things moving briskly. We had a full plate, but managed to get through it all. Among the topics bandied were: the post office (saved!—for now), the scholarship fund (we still need nominees), the need for a bike path to Fairbanks (hear! hear!), the road commission (a seat is open), the park plans (work parties on June 12th & 13th), the Fourth of July (committee meeting on June 10th), the Fire Department Recycle Sale (May 22nd), the Ester Artisans Solstice Fair ( June 19th), Ryan Lode, Y2K, and dogs. One of the pleasures of living in Ester is that one greets the dogs by name in the same way that one greets the people. They, just as much as anybody else, are neighbors. The dogs used to hang out in the Golden Eagle along with the rest of the patrons, until a few ill-mannered canines (and their owners, arguing over their dogs) made nuisances of themselves one too many times, and got themselves banished by order of Terry. The paper plate with the official pronouncement of doom is posted by the door of the bar. A few still try to sneak in, but are chased out fairly quickly. The banishment caused a bit of ruckus when first announced, but on the whole things have been calmer now in the Eagle. This has not, however, entirely solved the dog problem in downtown Ester. Now the dogs hang around outside the Eagle. Fine, unless they bark at arriving customers (or worse, growl—a serious breach of manners), or take a dump in the yard, or pack up with the other loose dogs. During the day there isn’t too much of a problem. It’s when strange dogs come in that we get difficulty. Then all the locals come down to check out the newcomer, and if they’ve met before, they romp or go for a run. If they haven’t met, then matters of hierarchy need to be attended to, and the odd dogfight sometimes results. It gets problematic when four or five or ten dogs show up. There have been a lot of dogs running about in the village lately, and so the subject came up at the E.C.A. meeting. Some strong feelings were in evidence. Nobody liked the idea of calling in Animal Control, but everybody figured that the expense and trouble of bailing out a few dogs would get the word out pretty fast. A few people raised concerns over the potential danger posed to children. While the doggy doo level hasn’t reached the depths one finds in big cities (we don’t need vacuum cleaners on motorcycles yet), the health issue also came up. A few dog owners grew annoyed with all the pointing fingers. Others noted that the problem is not restricted to the area of the bar, and that inattentive owners were the root of the problem. Dogs, after all, will be dogs. Even polite hounds can be obnoxious in a pack, so it behooves owners to restrict them when there are other dogs loose, or when the owner can’t be around to monitor their behavior. The Association decided, after discussion, to draft an open letter to dog owners, requesting better control of canines and warning of the potential consequences to the dogs if the problems continue. As so often happens, a few bad apples are besmirching the good name of the rest. A few of our canine neighbors came to the E.C.A. meeting, too, and helped clean up after the barbeque. Let’s keep them good neighbors. | ||
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