Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

My family and I enjoyed the rustic beauty of the Vineyard on a recent vacation, a return for me after many years to an Island connected with many fond childhood memories. However, we were taken aback by two incidents involving dog owners. In the first, during business hours, a dog owner abandoned his dog’s ample dung heap in the middle of the sidewalk in the commercial section of North Water street in Edgartown. In the second, later in the same day while we were flying a kite with our two young children in Ocean Park, a dog owner let his relatively large dog run free and deposit two large piles on the attractive green lawn; then he nonchalantly strolled off with his own children. Needless to say, our kite-flying experience was short-lived. In both incidents, I considered admonishing the dog owners and/or picking up the feces myself, though I ended up doing neither. Regardless, while many people on the Vineyard clearly preserve its charm, others tarnish it with their selfishness. Vineyard dog owners, whether residents or visitors, can do better.

Benjamin Lederer, Providence, R.I.