I was immensely disheartened to learn today that the righteous bureaucracy is chipping away at one of the small but deep pleasures that make Chicago a truly livable big city.
For as long as I can remember, although the law reasonably provides that dogs are not permitted on the beaches, it has been the custom to tolerate dog walking on the beaches in the winter and in the summer before the lifeguards come on duty at 9 a.m.
Anyone who takes the trouble to look will see that these beaches are remarkably free of dog waste because people who take the trouble to get up early to exercise their dogs are the sort who are responsible about picking up after them. (Sadly, the same cannot be said of many human beach-goers. There is one elderly dog-walker who picks up 15 to 20 dirty diapers a day because he believes he ought to leave a place nicer than he found it.)
For a dog-lover, the beach full of dogs early in the morning is a life-affirming thing. And it demonstrates the best in urban living–the way people extend the day so that scarce resources can be used by more people for different purposes.
Well, some influential dog-hater seems to have laid down the law, and so we are treated to the spectacle of four of Chicago’s finest standing around looking hot at 8 a.m. on a nearly deserted beach threatening dog owners.
Surely this is not a reasonable use of municipal resources. Surely we all can live and let live so that our city can continue to be a place where you don’t have to sacrifice one of the genuine joys of life–the companionship of a dog and the ability to give that friend the exercise it needs.
This is the first thing that has made me think seriously about leaving the city.
