San Francisco's Dog Blog

Service Animals in SF: Why is the Problem So Acute in the City of St. Francis?

2009-06-23T11:18:00.000-07:00

Joe Eskenazi's article in the SF Weekly about abuse of the ADA in registering non-trained animals as service dogs raises more questions than answers.It seems obvious that the common perception of a disabled individual is too limiting, and we must adjust the ADA in ways that can accommodate those with non-physical limitations.But it also seems obvious that we must require stringent regulations on

Dog Hypocrisy Highlighted by Board of Supervisors

2009-05-25T15:29:00.000-07:00

Sally Stephens is the self-appointed leader of San Francisco Dog Owners Group. She's well known for being less than candid with the truth, and even aligned herself with dog owners who spray painted "KKK" on a local proprietor's establishment.What remained of Ms. Stephen's credibility was destroyed at the Board of Supervisors last month when she testified at a hearing about San Francisco's golf

Brian O'Neill Passes Away, Irresponsible Dog Owners Show Their True Colors

2009-05-22T12:26:00.000-07:00

Brian O'Neill, the long-time Superintendent of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, died last week from complications from heart surgery. Brian was beloved by thousands, in part because his primary mission at the park was "friendraising": he tried everyday to build new friendships for the park, and he was very successful at it. He will be sorely missed by many.Except the irresponsible dog

Dogs and Shorebirds: Pacifica Tribune

2009-03-06T12:30:00.000-08:00

Pacifica Tribune Feb 25 2009Dogs and Shorebirds Editor: The group of birds known as shorebirds is comprised of the sandpipers, plovers and related birds that forage along our beaches, mudflats and rocky shores. Some species, like Western Snowy Plovers, Black Oystercatchers and Spotted Sandpipers, nest in our area, but most shorebirds are only winter visitors to the California coast, nesting

Pacifica: Off-Leash Dog Breaks Dogwalker's Leg

2008-09-04T09:32:00.000-07:00

Letters to the Editor: August 6, 2008Leash enforcementPacifica Tribune StaffEditor: As I sit here on my couch, nursing a compression fracture in my knee and a sprained ankle, I'm forced to ponder the lack of leash law enforcement in Pacifica. How did I get so racked up, you may ask? I was walking my own dog - on leash - on the beach at Linda Mar last week. An off-leash pit bull ran at us,

Who Killed San Francisco's Coyotes? Carl Friedman, SFSPCA, and SFDOG, That's Who!! - San Francisco's Dog Blog

2007-07-27T12:58:00.000-07:00

We here at San Francisco's Dog Blog, along with many San Franciscans, were shocked and horrified that two coyotes were killed by our government. But unlike some observers, we aren't content to simply decry the slaughter: we want to prevent another immoral killing of wildlife in our city, and to do so we must determine the root cause of the killings. There are several

New Study Says Off-Leash Dogs Prevent Asians and Latinos from Using GGNRA

2007-06-24T15:52:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it hits you from a completely unexpected angle. That's when you know you're in trouble.And so it is for the irresponsible dog owners in San Francisco. In addition to a record of siding with the Ku Klux Klan, they've now got a study showing that off-leash dogs are actually inhibiting ethnic minority groups, primarily Asians and Latinos, from using the Golden Gate National Recreation

Here's Mud in Your (last) Eye, SFSPCA - San Francisco's Dog Blog

2007-05-31T17:30:00.000-07:00

San Francisco's explosion of unsafe off-leash dog parks is one of the biggest pet-peeves of the editors here at San Francisco's Dog Blog. Thoughtless design, poor placement, and a lack of enforceable regulations protecting our dogs characterize nearly every off-leash dog play area in San Francisco.These unsafe places are a product of what we have grown to call the "irresponsible-dog-ownership

Off-Leash Dogs Attack Grebe in GGNRA - San Francisco's Dog Blog

2007-04-24T15:14:00.000-07:00

April 15, 2007 was a great day to be outside in San Francisco--unless you were an injured Western Grebe trying to recover in the GGNRA's so-called "wildlife protection area."Bending to the pressure of irresponsible dog owners, the GGNRA has refused to enforce leash laws at the Park for many years. Although a putative leash law enforcement area was institute to protect snowy plovers within the

AAA Andy, Boxer, the SF SPCA, and a Glue Factory - San Francisco's Dog Blog

2007-04-12T00:19:00.000-07:00

"Burying the Lead" is a tactic journalists use to hide shocking truths from the public, by burying critical information in the depths of the reporter's blather. The editors here at San Francisco's Dog Blog were informed of a prime example of this tactic perpetrated in the pages of the San Francisco Chronicle, and because it relates to irresponsible dog owners and the SF SPCA, we felt compelled to

Barbara Meskunas: Cull Coyotes for Off-Leash Dogs - San Francisco's Dog Blog

2007-03-15T10:09:00.000-07:00

The Coyote, Canis latrans, is a close cousin to our canine companions, but with far better lore. Native Americans considered coyote as creator, trickster, culture hero, fool, and--not surprisingly for a critter with so many persona--as shape-shifter.European colonists did not share this reverence. They initiated a gruesome coyote extermination campaign, and to this day Animal Damage Control--

Psycho Dogs, Their Cure, and the Demise of Dog Rescue - San Francisco's Dog Blog

2007-03-09T12:12:00.001-08:00

This week's SF Weekly has a Cujo-sounding cover story, simply entitled "Psycho Dogs." Inside, the rag describes an experiment to find the genetic roots of behavior disorders in dogs. The article explains that UCSF's Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute is conducting a fairly laborious experiment to examine the dog genome and find the genetic traits that cause compulsive behavior.This raises an

San Francisco Dog Owner Group Defends the KKK - San Francisco's Dog Blog

2007-01-26T21:28:00.001-08:00

Any dog owner who's been in San Francisco since the dot-com boom busted has seen them: self-centered, irresponsible dog owners refusing to consider how they and their dog(s) affect the lives of others. Emboldened by the anti-social philosophy of the SF SPCA and the single-minded, reactionary politics of San Francisco Dog Owner Group, these folks have flocked to our City, and they have single

Irresponsible Dog Owners Behaving Badly - San Francisco's Dog Blog

2007-01-10T18:20:00.001-08:00

Stanley Roberts must be one of the most brazen reporters in the Bay Area today. His KRON newshow, "People Behaving Badly," is a cross between Punk'd and the Chronicle's "What's Not Working" section: he catches people on tape doing obnoxious, illegal, and dangerous things, and tries to hold them responsible for their actions (or inactions).This week's show was about San Francisco's Dog Blog's

SF SPCA: Ignorance, Lies, and Denial - San Francisco's Dog Blog

2006-12-30T10:39:00.001-08:00

It should be no surprise to readers of San Francisco's Dog Blog that the editors here take a critical eye to the SF SPCA. Over several years of observation, it has become apparent to us that the group no longer relies on science or ethics to guide its decisions about protecting animals in San Francisco, and instead tries to remake the world's events to be consistent with the group's philosophy

If You Love Dogs, Leash Your Dog - San Francisco's Dog Blog

2006-12-28T12:50:00.001-08:00

San Francisco has more off-leash dog play areas per square mile than any other city in the United States. We are blessed to have a large number of these essential recreation spaces distributed throughout the City.Which is why it is so confounding that so many of our City's dog owners refuse to leash their dogs OUTSIDE of legal DPAs.After all, we are not the same city we were six years ago. Back

Commercial Dog Walkers Put Profit Before Dogs - San Francisco's Dog Blog

2006-12-27T16:17:00.001-08:00

Commercial dog walking is big business in San Francisco. On-leash or off, with other dogs or without, you can find almost an infinite number of commercial dog walkers willing to give your dog some exercise while you are away from home. This is a great and needed service in San Francisco, where our residences are small, the hours we work long, and the number of large dogs needing exercise quite

SF SPCA uses Funds for Housing Animals to House the Group's Insiders - San Francisco's Dog Blog

2006-12-25T09:00:00.001-08:00

Of the many disappointing aspects of our dog's lives in San Francisco, perhaps nothing is more disappointing than the SF SPCA. The seemingly venerable institution has brought discredit to the humane movement in many ways, from its politicized views of dog behavior to its uncanny ability to alienate animal welfare groups from the Marin Humane Society to Golden Gate Audubon Society.But it isn't

Let's Share the Beaches

2006-12-24T00:06:00.001-08:00

San Francisco is not one of the world's best cities for dogs. It's not even the best dog city in the United States. Our businesses don't accommodate dogs well, our public transit maintains arbitrary and difficult rules for our animals, our dog parks resemble Beirut in the Summer of 2006, and we've been the fatal locale of the two most gruesome and publicized dog attacks of this century.By any

Making San Francisco Safe and Fun for Dogs - San Francisco's Dog Blog

2006-12-23T23:23:00.001-08:00

Welcome to San Francisco's "Dog Blog," where we hope to inspire a new era of dog-centric living in our great City. San Francisco goes with dogs the way peanut butter goes with kongs. But a dog's life isn't always grand in the City:Over 60% of San Francisco residents are renters, yet almost all rental units preclude renters from owning dogs.Not enough restaurants, cafes, and businesses accommodate