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ANNOUNCEMENTS/NEWS
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFORTS. ArlingtonDogs has submitted a letter of intent to the County for a small parks grant to help mitigate erosion along Four Mile Run adjacent to Shirlington and Glen Carlyn CCAs. Emphasizing that increased usage of all Arlington parks has stressed the environmental of health of the stream, the letter offers to help the County improve shoreline, restore native plants, and monitor water quality efforts that will benefit users of all types of parks along Four Mile Run as well, ultimately, as all residents of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. ArlingtonDogs has also written to the Commonwealth of Virginia offering to assist in efforts to monitor and reduce runoff and other pollution contributing to the degradation of the Bay. The state is setting water quality standards for fecal coliform (of all types human, wildlife, and pet) in Four Mile Run. Dog parks provide a good place to educate dog owners about the effects of runoff of animal wastes, collect waste in one place, and with the periodic “sweeps” that occur, to collect overlooked waste. Remember: Scoop that poop! It’s important to everyone in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed!
OPEN SPACE MASTER PLAN. Arlington County is currently updating its Open Space Master Plan. Its Outdoor Active Recreation Working Group is gathering information and identifying issues about active-use outdoor facilities including: athletic fields and courts, playgrounds, community canine areas, trails/paths, boathouse/Potomac River access and use, and facilities for skateboarding, Frisbee, and other outdoor sports and activities. Other working groups are gathering similar information on indoor facilities; outdoor passive recreation and natural resources; urban areas and streetscapes; art, historic, and cultural resources; and land acquisition and optimization. The Outdoor Active Recreation Working Group is scheduled to conduct public forums on three Mondays (June 24, July 1, and July 8), 7:00-9:00 pm at Arlington County Central Library, 1015 N. Quincy Street. Information can be submitted by attending the forums, by submitting comments by fax, email, or snail mail (contact info will follow shortly). These public meetings will not be decision-making events, but will be purely information-gathering forums. Depending on the turnout and mindful of time constraints, the Working Group may need to limit oral comments (ie, two minutes per speaker, one speaker per viewpoint until all representative viewpoints have been heard once-around, etc.) but welcomes as much input as possible. ArlingtonDogs will be attending and submitting comments on the usefulness, condition, and need for CCAs, and their value in helping preserve open space. Any member who wants to help put the ADogs comments together or wants more info on this effort, please contact us at arlingtondogs@hotmail.comor 703-578-0522.
MADISON CCA. The County Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board (HALRB) has sent a letter to County Manager Ron Carlee asking him to act on last year’s HALRB vote regarding the Madison CCA at Fort Ethan Allen park. As reminder, the HALRB had disapproved a Certificate of Appropriateness for the fencing at the dog park, which would necessitate closing the existing park. This led to a long series of public meetings in which HALRB, two other historic groups, ArlingtonDogs, MadDogs, and the two civic associations participated. An alternative site was found near the existing park on the Madison Community Center site but completely outside the historic designation area -- acceptable to the great majority of participants in the work group, including HALRB and ArlingtonDogs (as an alternative to the complete closure of the CCA). The alternative site was recommended for approval to the County Manager, but for some reason he did not approve the alternative and the situation continues in limbo. Without an alternative and if the county acts to close Madison, one of the few CCAs in North Arlington faces shutdown. ADogs continues to argue that CCAs should be treated like any other county park and the public process for siting them should be respected. If the rules can change for dog parks, then all parks (CCAs and other) are threatened. ADoggers who want to weigh in with the county board can contact countyboard@co.arlington.va.us
ANOTHER CALL FOR VIGILANCE. With the warm weather, some of the problems with people who don’t have dogs but sometimes loiter at various county parks (including CCAs) have begun again. Park users in Shirlington’s CCA have particularly noticed this, have contacted county staff, and the area should be receiving increased attention from the police. CCA users and users of other county parks should continue to be vigilant, careful, report incidents to the county (contact information should be up at every dog park) and some users have suggested attending the dog parks in groups or at times when other users are present. And not to sound like your mother, but a few cautionary reminders (we only remind you because we love you). Please remember we need to police ourselves and be good witnesses. A Clarendon CCA visitor reports that when her teenage daughter was at the park with her dog on May 8 at around 5 pm, another Clarendon user viciously kicked her dog in front of other CCA visitors and ordered the daughter and her friend out of the park. The dog owner has asked that anyone who was at the park at the time: “I’d like to talk with them to check the girls’ account.” Anyone who can help, please contact ADogs at 703-578-0522 or arlingtondogs@hotmail.com. A dog struck by a car near Ft. Barnard CCA a week later is another reminder: Keep your dogs leashed until inside the CCA, and have proper ID on your dog so that if something does happen, you can be located.
SAAB FUNDRAISER/TESTDRIVE. Show up at You Lucky Dog Bakery (1531 N. Quaker Lane, just over the border into Alexandria) on Saturday, June 22, between 11 am and 4 pm to test drive a new Saab and Saab will donate $20 per test drive to ArlingtonDogs. New Saabs have dog-friendly seats and safety features. All you have to do is test drive it, and you can even bring your dog. Let’s get a great turnout to thank both Saab and You Lucky Dog for organizing this event! ADogs is still looking for volunteers to help staff the tables and prepare for the event; reply to arlingtondogs@hotmail.comif you are interested.
DOUGLAS DOGS had its first meeting since the creation of Ft. Barnard and is now going gangbusters. They are online at with a group at yahoogroups (group name: DouglasDogs) and a website. Anyone who wants to join the yahoo group can send an email to douglasdogs@yahoogroups.com and DouglasDogs invites everyone to sign up.
GAS CHAMBERS IN VIRGINIA. There are still animal shelters in Virginia that use the gas chamber to kill unwanted pets a method many regard as among the most inhumane ways to end an animal’s life, leading to a slow and painful death. There is a petition online to ban gas chambers in Virginia shelters, and you can “sign” it at www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/petition-sign.cgi?chamber
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