Hanover puts leash law up for adoption at Town Meeting - Valley News
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Dog walker Cia Rising, of Hanover Center, walks along Dogford Road in her town with clients Summer, left, Doubles and Rising’s dog Ned on Monday, Nov. 18, 2019. Rising said she usually walks in the woods, but stays on the road this time of year due to hunting season. (Valley News - Jennifer Hauck) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to [email protected]. Valley News file photograph — Jennifer Hauck » Buy this Image
HANOVER — Voters at Town Meeting later this spring will decide whether to enact a leash law for dogs.
The Selectboard voted, 3-1, on Monday to place a question on the town warrant that, if approved, would adopt RSA 466:30-a, the state statute that grants New Hampshire towns the authority to establish a leash requirement for all dogs while off their owners’ property.
Selectboard Chairman Peter Christie said he had spoken with representatives of the town Conservation Commission and was assured its members supported the measure.
“They all had unhappy experiences of dogs off-leash on trails,” Christie said. “They thought this was appropriate.”
Christie said he wasn’t sure if he supported a leash requirement, but he was supportive of putting the issue before voters.
Selectboard member Joanna Whitcomb, who voted in favor of putting the article on the warrant, said even many dog owners have reported unwanted encounters with unleashed dogs.
“A friendly dog and a dog on a leash don’t necessarily go together,” Whitcomb said. “We’ve seen a lot more activity on our trails in the past couple of years.”
Town Manager Julia Griffin said research by city staff found that Hanover had a leash law on the books in the early 1990s following a rash of complaints about wandering canines, attributed at the time to Dartmouth College fraternities.
However, that leash law had to be rescinded in 1996 because it had not been properly authorized by voters at Town Meeting, Griffin said in an interview.
Now, 26 years later, the push for a leash law is primarily tied to complaints about off-leash dogs on area trails.
Griffin said the Town Meeting vote must happen during the business portion of the meeting and must be voted on with a paper ballot.
If authorized, the leash requirement would not apply to hunting dogs or those engaged in competitions, exhibitions, guarding, working or herding in a work capacity.
The lone dissenting voice on Monday night came from Selectboard member Athos Rassias, who held up a photograph that recently appeared in an Upper Valley publication. Rassias described the autumnal scene, which featured a woman and her off-leash dog walking through a meadow.
“I think the whole intent of this photograph was to remind us of our sense of place and our sense of time,” Rassias said. “We do live in an area where scenes like this woman is enjoying are readily available.”
Rassias said it comes down to respect and acknowledged that not everyone is comfortable around an exuberant or boisterous dog.
“The people who don’t want dogs jumping on them have the same right as this lovely woman and her golden retriever,” to enjoy the area’s outdoors, Rassias said. “There’s room for everyone to enjoy this.”
Rassias said rather than enacting a difficult-to-enforce regulation, the town should focus on education and outreach.
He also said the leash law would pit “citizen against citizen.”
“Bullying is a real concern,” Rassias said. “We’re going to have people yelling at other people.”
Members of the public weighed in on both sides.
David Dostal said he supported the leash law and said another example of the “bullying” cited by Rassias was children afraid on area trails because of off-leash dogs.
“My advocacy isn’t based on what’s going to happen but what is happening,” Dostal said.
Jarett Burke, who also supported putting the measure to a town vote, said there are other ways to get compliance rather than requiring leashes.
“There are a lot of people who enjoy having a dog off-leash,” Burke said. “One of the reasons why people enjoy living in a place like this is because we have public land. I’m a public landowner, as everyone else is. Being able to utilize public lands and enjoy it with a dog that does not run up to people and does not scare people or jump on people ... there are many, many responsible dog owners that follow those rules and enjoy that recreation. This would get in the way.”
Hanover Town Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 10.
Darren Marcy can be reached at [email protected] or 603-727-3216.
source: https://www.vnews.com/Hanover-Select-Board-approves-leash-law-article-for-town-meeting-45612685
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