Arlington Dog Owners Group

Copyright 2008 – 2010, Arlington Dog Owners Group, all rights reserved
Join the A-DOG group on Facebook, just for fun and to stick together!

Our Spring Unleashed networking open house was sponsored by Picture Perfect Pets (PPP) and A-DOG! Saturday, May 15 at Picture Perfect Pets in Arlington. Our supporters who attended enjoyed complimentary pet photography by Bette Yip of PPP, refreshments and good conversation and entered a drawing for gifts donated by local dog-friendly businesses and individuals. More details here.

Article 36 Passes at Town Meeting By a vote of 78-70, Arlington Town Meeting passed a substitute motion sponsored by A-DOG Town Meeting Members. This will allow dogs off leash, under owner control, in parks under Parks and Recreation Commission authority. Certain areas will be excluded, including parks right next to school buildings, within 15 ft of playground equipment, and any other site by exclusion of the Parks and Recreation Commission, which may also set shorter hours. This bylaw change, after approval by the Attorney General, will go into effect in a few months, probably by September. A great step for responsible dog owners in Arlington!

Arlington Speaks out for Off Leash Recreation! Arlington residents’ Letters to the Editor in support of responsible off-leash recreation, including the Article 36 Substitute Motion.  Letters here. Information on the Article 36 Substitute Motion here.

Arlington Parks and Recreation Commission Votes to Support A-DOG’s Article 36! At an April 13 hearing, the Parks and Recreation Commission voted unanimously (with 4 out of 5 Commissioners present) to support the Article that A-DOG representatives will present to Town Meeting, to allow dogs off leash, under effective owner control in the mornings.  It will be a Substitute Motion since the Board of Selectmen did not vote to support it (see below for more information).  Parks and Recreation Commissioners commented that it was a sensible approach, and gave them the flexibility to further modify park use by dog owners, as needed.  Thank-you to Arlington’s Parks and Recreation Commission for supporting sensible off-leash recreation by responsible dog owners in Arlington!

Arlington Board of Selectmen Vote Against A-DOG’s Article 36. At a March 22 hearing, the Selectmen voted 4-1 for “No Action” on proposed Article 36, to allow dogs off leash, under effective owner control under certain conditions. Read more and link to a video of the Board of Selectmen’s hearing here .

Shop “A-DOG”! At our A-DOG CafePress shop, you can order fun items such as bumper stickers, magnets and pet bowls imprinted with our logo! We do not mark up the CafePress prices to make them as affordable as possible….please wear our products to show your support! Keep checking for new items and send us your suggestions. And, please patronize Friends of A-DOG businesses.

Newton Off Leash Park Abutters Fail in Attempt to Challenge its Legitimacy. A group of abutters to an off-leash recreational area in Newton claimed that the city had used federal funding inappropriately. Their attorney said: “It is my client’s position that conversion of Park use for the private and commercial exercise of domestic animals is not a public outdoor recreation use and requires the approval of the US Secretary of the Interior”. Read the article by Michele Biscoe of the Somerville Dog Owners Group.

Listen to the Radio Boston program “Is Boston Going to the Dogs?” aired recently on WBUR. If you like what you hear, send a contribution to WBUR and remind them of how much you appreciate such balanced and in-depth reporting. For the local perspective, read The Buzz Around Town, public comments on off-leash dogs. And, please add your own words in the “Comments” section.

MassDOG, a new coalition of Dog Owner Groups (DOGs) in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. A-DOG is proud to be involved in the formation of a new coalition of groups like ours from across the state. By joining forces, we will be able to help one another to promote the interests of responsible dog owners in our own communities, and will work to help encourage more dog-friendly policies and facilities in our state parks. See the new MassDOG website, and sign up to receive the MassDOG Woof newsletter!  And, join the MassDOG group on Facebook!

A-DOG granted tax-exempt (501 (c)(3)) status. The IRS has ruled that A-DOG is a public charity that is tax exempt under Internal Revenue Code 501 (c)(3). Contributions to A-DOG, retroactive to May 8, 2008, including membership dues, should be tax deductible. (Always check with your tax professional to confirm.)

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PETITION!!
Arlington Residents: Sign our PETITION to help us demonstrate strong support for legal off-leash recreational options for responsible Arlington dog owners and their dogs. The Petition says:
“I hereby add my support to Arlington Dog Owners Group’s efforts to gain off-leash exercise and socialization options for dogs and their owners in Arlington. Specifically, I urge Arlington Town Meeting to amend the Bylaws to allow dogs off leash in parks across Arlington, under certain reasonable conditions and at certain reasonable times. In addition, I urge the Town of Arlington to act in a timely manner to establish legal off-leash recreational facilities such as the dog parks already allowed under current Bylaws. ”

Click HERE to access and sign the online petition. If you’d prefer to sign a paper option, contact us by email to arrange it. We have collected many signatures by ink beginning on Town Day and continuing with volunteer efforts. These lists are being merged together to present to Town Meeting and other town officials and employees. (So, you do not need to sign twice but, if you do, don’t worry..we will sort out the duplicates.)

And, please sign your full name, with a separate entry for each person. (If you prefer, you will be able to hide your name from public viewing on the website by choosing “anonymous”. ) Thanks!

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THE A-DOG WEBSITE BELONGS TO ALL OF US — PLEASE CONTRIBUTE YOUR COMMENTS TO OUR CONTENT!

Welcome to our website! Please read our articles and enter comments wherever you’d like (there is a comment section after each article).

We recommend that you do not post your comments anonymously but that, instead, you sign your name. We believe that’s a nice way to encourage the most constructive dialog possible in our community. But, we are allowing pseudonyms since some people do feel more comfortable posting that way. The comments are moderated and we reserve the right to not publish comments for certain reasons. One reason would be that a valid email address was not provided by the person who posted the comment. (This email address is visible to the moderators but not to the public viewing the site.) If a comment seems particularly rude and disrespectful, we reserve the right not to publish it and will try to inform the author by email with a chance to revise it. We will, however, do our best to allow, and encourage, comments representing all points of view on issues of relevance to our articles.

We welcome submissions of articles on relevant topics. If you’d like to write an article for this website, please contact us at the email given below with your proposal. Unlike comments, however, we will not publish articles written under a “nom de plume”unless there is a good reason for the anonymity

Feel free to contact us at <arlingtondogowners@gmail.com> with questions, feedback, article proposals, or any other inquiry.