If you’re heading out to see this afternoon’s mega-low tide, don’t take your dog.
Not just because dogs are not allowed on city beaches, but also because it’s not good for the vulnerable sealife exposed when the tide goes so far out.
Despite all that, dogs on beaches – and in other Seattle parks – are the number one source of complaints that city Park Rangers deal with.
That’s according to a briefing the city Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners> got at their most recent meeting, including this slide with the newest data on complaints, responses, and enforcement:
The head of the Park Rangers program, Jon Jainga, brought the board some stats – including that they’ve received more than 1,600 animal complaints this year (through May), and isued seven citations. That ratio is not just because the ranger program is lightly staffed – 28 rangers for more than 500 parks and other facilitie, plus 125+ of trails, as Jainga reminded the board – but also because they believe warnings and other forms of education are most effective. Promoting “voluntary compliance” is the rangers’ main role.
(We should note that the briefing just dealt with rangers; Seattle Animal Shelter officers’ role was not part of it.)