The esteemed Sonoma Valley Sun columnist Bob Edwards is also a cynophile and cynophilist, endowed with intense canophilia. He is also a notable retired attorney licensed to practice law in the State of California and ipso facto (a Latin legal term which only professionals like Bob Edwards are privileged to use) he knows the meaning of words like cynophile and canophilia (not to mention ipso facto).
Given his significant credentials, we are logically persuaded to give due consideration to the subject of his December 18 column which posed the question of whether or not the Lord and Savior of all God’s creatures – that being Jesus Christ Himself – would ban only canines from the sacred Sonoma Plaza. Leashed dogs, after all, are permitted on the well-trod Sonoma Bike Path, in countless dog-friendly dining establishments, even in sections of the Jack London State Historic Park in Glen Ellen, representing a major exception to California State Park policy which is notably anti-dog.
The anti-dog City Council policy, Edwards explained, was addressed four years ago when Councilmembers were asked to consider allowing a “test period” to see if public concerns about pooch poop were actually justified. The Council, Edwards reported, never responded.
Now, let’s be honest here. No one wants to step in a pile of dog poo, especially not in a thousand-dollar pair of Louboutins or some open-toed sandals. And we have to concede that the noted American philosopher Dave Barry was pretty accurate when he pointed out that, “the object is not so much to walk your dog, as it is to empty him.”
Up through the 1980s, in midtown Manhattan, New York City dog owners seemed to confirm that assumption by emptying their dogs on virtually every square foot of city sidewalk. And sidewalks on the Upper West Side were veritable mine fields of dog turds.
It is one of the ironies of human behavior that it is easier to train dogs not to poop indoors than it is to train humans to pick up dog poop outdoors. Similarly, a dog can be taught to heel, wait and come, but humans have a harder time learning that leash laws don’t mean carrying a leash while walking the dog, rather that the dog must be attached to the leash. But these days the Big Apple has a “Pooper Scooper” law, fines for failure to pick up poop can reach $250 and the sidewalks are much, much cleaner.
Now, all that said, thousands of Sonoma Valley dog owners know that leaving home with a dog but without a bag is bad form. Responsible dog owners are the rule, not the exception. And faith in public willingness to do the right thing seems to be confirmed in San Francisco, where dogs – on and off leash – are allowed in most of the iconic public areas, including the Marina Green, Mission Dolores Park and almost every other city park, along with Crissy Field, Golden Gate Park and the entire Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Not cleaning up dog poop violates the city’s Health Code with fines ranging from $320 to $500.
Interestingly, the City of Sonoma has had, since 2016, a smoking ordinance that prohibits smoking or vaping in many areas, including all parks and other public spaces as well as paths, streets, sidewalks, bus stops, indoor common areas, public events, restaurants, bars and hotels. But there is no publicly accessible listing of the penalty for code violations and the public is simply advised to contact the Sonoma Code Enforcement Department. Maybe that’s why the City simply finds it so much simpler to just ignore the Plaza/poop issue.
Now, with the question of poop management aside, we generally agree that off-leash dogs present a much different problem. An off-leash dog will inevitably chase a bird, a deer, a rabbit no matter how well it has been trained. It is easier to hold back the tide than to restrain an off-leash German shepherd that has spotted a deer. I should know. I had one for 14 years. A German Shepherd. Not a deer.
And yet, dogs are born to run and when a dog begs and begs to just go, who can say no? These are fundamental canine realities. Denying them is denying who they are – the only non-human creature to have evolved paw-in-hand with humans for tens of thousands of years. And, as uber dog lover, naturalist and author Roger Caras wrote, “We derive immeasurable good, uncounted pleasures, enormous security and many critical lessons about life by owning dogs.” And he entered into the canine catechism this often-repeated quote, “Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.”
Dog ownership seems to be a fated part of the human condition, as inevitable as sunrise and morning walks. As James Thurber once explained, “It did not take Man long – probably not more than a hundred centuries – to discover that all the animals except the dog were impossible around the house. One has but to spend a few days with an aardvark or llama, command a water buffalo to sit up and beg, or try to housebreak a moose, to perceive how wisely Man set about his process of elimination and selection.”
Dogs, in other words, are a fact of life, and in few places more so, it seems, than in Sonoma.
So there you have it, the fundamental dimensions of the dog dilemma: Can’t live without them but there are no longer enough places to take them where they won’t poop or chase something.
One answer would be a policy of fine and enforcement that would make public dog poop and free-range canines painfully expensive. A $100 fine is a good human-training tool. But that assumes we have the resources to enforce rules that already exist. We’re not sure what the ultimate answer is – or if there is one – but this much is clear: dog owners want and deserve more space to take their canine companions; and the general public wants and deserves a relatively poop-free outdoor environment and an absence of unruly, on-or-off-leash dogs in pristine parts of nature.
This, we think, calls for a thoughtful conversation that isn’t yet happening. We suggest – seriously – a Sonoma Dog Committee to address and attempt to resolve canine concerns. We have a committee for traffic safety, why not one for dogs.
A final thought from Jerry Seinfeld: “Dogs are the leaders of the planet. If you see two life forms, one of them’s making a poop, the other one’s carrying it for him, who would you assume is in charge?”
– David Bolling
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