Editor:

   To the woman who wrote the letter entitled, “I will protect my children from dogs on the beach,” printed in the Oct. 24 edition of the Sentry, your letter compelled my response. First, you state that “all summer dogs have been permitted to run, bark and pollute Willard Beach and Hinckley Park.” Choose your words carefully – there are very limited times during the summer that dogs are permitted to be on Willard Beach, so you can hardly say that they ran around there all summer long. Second, you say that Hinckley Park is not a “dog area,” and that you “will be equipped and prepared for any and all dogs that intrude on my space.” Hinckley Park is a “dog area” in the sense that dogs are permitted to be there off leash – the signs clearly state so. And I sincerely do not appreciate your clear threat to harm my or someone elses’ dogs when we are law-abiding citizens. If you harm my dog when she and I are entitled to be at Hinckley or Willard, then you are the one with the problem – a legal problem – not me. It is one thing to protect yourself from an animal that is attacking you, but to threaten to harm a friendly animal that is legally entitled to be where they are is simply immoral, unethical and illegal.

   It seems almost too obvious to have to say, but your letter compels me to tell you that if you have so much anger toward dogs that you would threaten to hurt them in a public newspaper, then you should not be going to a place where dogs are permitted to be. I wouldn’t choose to go to a family restaurant if I did not like hearing little children scream, laugh or cry and if I did not want a little child possibly coming up to me to say hello – I would choose a different restaurant to go to. I wouldn’t go to a bar to meet up with my friends if I did not like being around alcohol – I would meet them at a coffee shop or some other venue. Perhaps you should travel the extra few miles in the other direction to go to Higgins Beach or walk on one of the many other trail systems in this area if you have that much anger toward dogs.

   You say that dogs “should be banned from Willard Beach and all city parks immediately for the sole reason of safety.” You have provided absolutely no evidence in support of this nor have I seen any evidence in support of this. The reality is that a very large number of members of this community are dog owners and pay property taxes in support of our public parks and beaches, and if the cities were to attempt to ban dogs completely, there would be an enormous number of landowners who would be extremely unhappy. Dogs are members of our families, which perhaps is something you have never been privileged to experience.  I will personally put up the fight of my life if the city of South Portland (city of my residence) attempts to ban dogs from either Willard Beach or Hinckley Park.

Shari R. Sobel

South Portland