I need to point out some contradictions that exist on the Island regarding dogs. A letter to the editor on July 19 about dogs on the beach generalized dog owners as “idiots” and “irresponsible.” This I take issue with as I would never act in the way the Walkers describe their beach and dog situation. Right underneath this exhortation is a sensitive story written by Peter Robb about his love for his dog, Lucca, and the kind loving act of adopting dogs. Quite a contrast.
There are some persisting myths about the Vineyard — such as the notion that this is an easy place to ride a bicycle, that all Islanders know a ketch from a yawl, grow their own tomatoes, think nothing of picking up hitchhikers or picking off ticks, and most important, own at the very least one dog. Maybe two.
And that last one is the truest. Island dogs are omnipresent — and that doesn’t include the little pups that get carried around in summer purses like fluffy accessories.
Here comes another dog story but who doesn’t love dogs? I want to tell you about Lucca who died in early June. She was a Siberian Husky that we adopted on a cold, snowy Super Bowl Sunday back in 2010. We were never sure of her actual birthday so we celebrated before the football game.
With all the worries plaguing aviators these days, the thing
that's got Trade Winds airport manager Joe Costa all worked up is
dog droppings - on the runway and taxi lane.
An Island man who fell into the Edgartown harbor was saved from
drowning on Sunday by a pair of unlikely heroes: a patron at the Wharf
Pub who had stepped outside for a smoke, and a determined four-year-old
Bouvier des Flandres named Maui.
Bouvier des Flandres is a breed of Belgian retrievers known for
their intelligence and for protecting their masters, two attributes
displayed aptly by Maui Sunday when he played a pivotal role in saving
the life of his owner, Leonard Fogg of Edgartown.
Out-of-towners leave your dogs at home, the West Tisbury parks and recreation committee has decided, at least if you are going to Lambert’s Cove Beach with your pooch.
On Wednesday the committee agreed to restrict dog privileges to town residents, amid increasing complaints from beachgoers who have watched sunset picnics blemished by uncontrolled canines and unretrieved dog droppings.
Beachgoers whisking their dogs onto Joseph Sylvia State Beach for a quick spin hoping no one notices may want to think twice this summer — the Dukes County commissioners are calling for a volunteer-based patrol program to help enforce the no-dogs policy.
She’s the talk of the Island. They’re musing about her in the coffee line at Alley’s and she is the subject of after-class rumblings at the Yoga Barn. Passengers discuss her on the ferry. Your sister heard about her at a bar — in Brooklyn. Lately it is hard to find someone who is not involved, at least conversationally, in the search for Olive, the missing black Lab.
The long-running debate over dogs on Lambert’s Cove Beach isn’t over yet.
West Tisbury voters, who agreed three weeks ago at their annual town meeting to let residents walk their dogs on the beach on summer mornings, are being asked back to a special town meeting on June 5 to decide whether they want to pay to enforce good behavior by owners and their pets. The warrant is expected to ask voters to back funding for a seasonal assistant animal control officer to patrol the beach, as well as to consider bylaw changes addressing leashes and litter.
