PARK IS GOING TO THE DOGS, OFFICIALS IN FAIRFAX SAY

Leash Law Crackdown Angers Pet Owners

There=s a war on over a muddy patch of parkland in central Fairfax County. On one side, there=s an armed battalion of officers who scuttle through the woods, looking to ambush the enemy. On the other, an angry band of residents who have organized surveillance squads to protect their hallowed ground.

The casus belli? Dogs. Alarmed by a jump in dog attacks at county parks, Fairfax officials are stepping up enforcement of county leash laws and cracking down on dog owners who let their pets run free on parkland. The conflict between dog owners and the animal wardens has become so bitter that top government officials have been called in to mediate. But so far, in the words of one would-be peacekeeper, the situation has merely deteriorated into a Avindictive war.@

As Fairfax has become more urban in the last two decades - with thousands of additional town houses and detached houses set on tiny lots - the demands on county parks from dog owners and other residents are intensifying.

It=s a problem throughout the region. In the District, U.S. Park Police and residents have clashed over dogs running without leashes in a Northwest Washington park. In Montgomery County just last month, park officials inundated with complaints of dogs running amok and soiling public grounds adopted what they call a no-tolerance policy, ticketing dog owners who don=t control their animals.

And in some cases, off-leash dogs have been more than just an intrusion. In Fairfax last summer, a bird-watcher in Great Falls had to use a knife to defend himself against an angry German Shepard, and in December, a woman was nipped by a shepherd running without a leash in a county park.

Armed with .38-caliber handguns and other weapons, the county=s 24 animal wardens travel in large white vans equipped as doggy paddy wagons, often stopping in parks to look for owners who are breaking leash laws. AThere is a leash law in this county, and it is our job to enforce it,@ said Animal Warden Anthony F. Dorrapf. But as the wardens have issued more and more citations - 156 in the last six months in county parks, compared with only 36 in the same period a year ago - dog owners in a small number of neighborhood parks have begun to rebel.

Nowhere is the conflict more tense than at Blake Lane Park near Vienna, where Maggie (a Labrador mix), Kirby (a border collie), Harley (a basset hound) and more than a dozen other dogs gather nearly every afternoon for exercise and games. On Friday, two county officers reported to the site after a woman who had been at one of the park soccer fields called in, saying she was afraid her child might be hurt. Police warned the dog owners about the pets not being on leashes but did not charge them. AThis is a perfect place for us to bring out our dogs,@ said Tom Oldham, 38, a marketing executive, who had brought Maggie on a recent afternoon for her daily romp. AWe are county residents. We have a right to be here.@

Waves of animal control officers have converged on the park, often emerging from the cover of woods, to ticket members of the dog social club. Arguments have ensued, including one in which a dog owner got so angry that an officer pulled out a can of mace to defend himself. (He never used it).

AThey come in SWAT team forces, three or four at a time,@ complained Bob Fowler, 61, a retired advertising executive and president of the group, which calls itself the Bushman Drive Kennel Club. AThey are out of control.@

Fowler has responded by setting up AOperation Warden Watch,@ with volunteers who guard the perimeters of the park, armed with radios to warn the dog owners if the enemy vans approach. AIt=s kind of silly,@ said Sharon Regan, 33, a certified public accountant, who received a $44 ticket for allowing her dog to run free at Blake Lane Park. AAren=t there better things for the officers to be doing?@

David R. Flagler, director of the Fairfax County Department of Animal Control, said the problem is that some dog owners don=t recognize that Fairfax, with more than 900,000 people, is not a farm community but a densely populated suburb.

The Maryland-National Capital Park Police, faced with a similar problem in Montgomery, also instituted a Astrict enforcement@ policy last month, meaning they will issue tickets of up to $100 to dog owners who let their pets loose. (They have issued only 12 citations in the last 15 months).

Some residents are frightened by unleashed canines running free. AIt=s horrible, just horrible,@ said Joseph R. Mason, 33, a federal government economist, who lives in a town house overlooking Blake Lane Park and whose 4-year old daughter was frightened by an unleashed dog who bounded up to her in the park in February. He now videotapes the dogs from his town house window, gathering evidence in case anyone needs it. AI would like to have a dog, but lets face it, I live in a town house,@ Mason said. AIf everyone had their own yard, they could do what they want. But this is not a yard. It is a park, and it is a public resource.@

Many Bushman Drive Kennel Club members clean up after their dogs, but there are feces in parts of the field. And all the activity has worn away the grass, leaving an often muddy field. As soon as the dogs are freed, they spring wildly toward the field, jumping high into the air as they frolic or blitzing off madly to retrieve a ball. The owners mill around, socializing and sharing stories of recent run-ins with the wardens. AMy dog is a member of my family,@ said Richard Douglas, 27, referring to Winston, his hound dog. AI don=t want to keep him on a leash.@