The new temporary Portland leash law (“Dog leash law temporarily extended to all public places,” April 15, Page B1) will have drastic unintended consequences.
The point of the measure is to enable social distancing. However, by limiting off-leash dogs to the two dog parks, it guarantees that there will be crowding at those locations.
In addition, limiting the enforcement of the law to between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. means that people will congregate before and after those hours, again leading to more crowding and less distancing.
It does not take a lot of analysis to see that the law will have exactly the opposite of the intended effect. At its next meeting the Portland City Council should rescind this poorly conceived measure.
David Moltz
Portland
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