Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Lakewood/Rocky River Dog Park Lawsuit Heading to a Close
Posted by Vince Grzegorek on Tue, Jul 27, 2010 at 10:00 AM
- A visual representation of Lakewood and Rocky River's relationship.
As the Moroccan Jewish saying goes, “Do not respond to a barking dog.”
Rocky River could have avoided a lot of trouble and saved a mound of tax dollars by heeding those words. Instead it sued neighboring Lakewood when a handful of residents on the eastern edge of town complained about incessant barking emanating from Lakewood’s dog park, nestled just across the valley
in the Metroparks.
But at long last, the Great Suburban Doggie Trial of 2010 has come to an end. After two weeks of testimony, during which the mayors of both cities took the stand, attorneys will file briefs arguing their cases, and judge Carolyn Friedland — the same judge who initially threw the case out — will render her decision. The process could take a month or more.
Chad Bray, from Friends of the Lakewood Dog Park, is cautiously optimistic. “My sense is that there weren’t any surprises,” he says. “It went pretty much how you’d expect. The plaintiff said there’s lots of barking and it’s loud. We responded that there’s not that much barking and it’s not loud enough to
be bothersome.”
Regardless of the outcome, the Rocky River residents for whom the case was filed would do well to remember the Danish proverb: “An honest man is not the worse because a dog barks at him.” And you never see Danish people bitching about dog parks.
Comments (8)
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This whole case is so ridiculous. I've been to the dog park so many times, and there's more noise made by the trucks coming and going from the nearby plant than by the dogs.
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On the contrary, everywhere a person goes they hear cars/trucks/other ambient noises. Dogs barking is a shrill annoying sound, especially little dogs. I think these rocky river residents have a point and deserve to be heard.
I bet the Judge's decision will be to limit the hours of the dog park and a dog volunteer monitor will be required on the premises when open.
We have a dog park at the end of my street in Parma, and I'm there quite a lot with my dog and have almost never heard any of the dogs barking. They are too busy playing ball with their owners or wrestling with the other dogs to be barking. There just is not a lot of barking, ever. NO more than one would hear if they had A dog living next door. Its simply a case of someone being miserable and wanting to share his misery with others. There are just some people in the world that hate to see anyone else be happy and will do whatever it takes to make sure they kill any happiness around them. That's sadly what happened here.
Lakewood is the only park i know that locks it gates that said right there that lakewood people can't control the barking so enforement had to take place..
Unless you have experienced what the people that are bothered by the dog park experience, you can not speak to how bad it really is. All you are doing is speculating and being judgmental. No ones enjoyment/recreation should outweigh the ability for a home owner (who was there long before the dog park) to enjoy their own home.
The people which is a small group that think they own the dog park tell who is & who is not allow to come in the public dogpark.. they try to stop Rockyriver Residents from coming into the park.. the people are liars that go to the park.. they are friends with chad who thinks he owns the park. and hiss small clan of friends. The park is dirty. poop they do not clean up.. bowls are always dirty... the people with the huskies ..talk about people that go down there..about there looks.. they call them crazy . nuts, these are the people that lie to keep the park open.. their huskies are the ones that attack people & dogs.. when you tell them to get your dog they sit there & laugh at you..
Kadrock25 .. Don't make me laugh.. you know how stupid you sound.. their is a different noise.. shill of a barking dog then trucks make... the planet was there before the dog park..
what about the poop that no ones picks up.. the dirty bowls it's funny how the ones that want the dogpark to stay open lie about everything..the ones that edit the videos .. then put it on youtube.. what is left out the barking dogs .. wait you clean up the dogpark for the day you want to put it on youtube..too.
