Hello friends! Human here. The unfortunate state of our local park(s) have compelled me to go on this lengthy rant this morning. The final straw? Freshly broken glass from a beer bottle on the sidewalk. Hunter and I were literally half an inch from stepping into that mess. Luckily I caught it in time and pulled him off to the side. We ended up walking on the street. And if you’re wondering how I’m feeling at the moment. Well, I’m mad as hell! Not solely because of Hunter.. but also because thought of a child or an elderly person actually tripping and falling onto the glass also flashed through my mind.
We live in one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in Brooklyn, New York. While the thought of having a park right around the corner appears to be convenient, I can assure you that it isn’t necessarily always the best place to walk your four-legged companion. In my case, Hunter. Our park is laced with booby traps. Some in plain sight. Some hidden. People enjoy tossing their food scraps into the tall grass (even though there are trash bins everywhere)… and most times it’s the dreaded chicken bones. Hunter has gotten his paws on a few. Garbage such as dirty tissue and old newspapers everywhere! Then we have the soda can plastic rings. And worst of all, we have glass everywhere! I mean.. you might ask me why I automatically made the assumption that people break glass on purpose. Fair enough. Let’s give some people the benefit of doubt. It was accidental. However, even if it was accidental, all you’d have to do was take one look around and see how many young children run around the park, some barefooted, playing in the water. As adults, wouldn’t you make do with whatever you have at the moment and try to clean the mess up? I know I would. In addition, I’ve also witness a few boneheads toss glass bottles at each other on purpose… because geee, isn’t it so much fun to throw glass bottles at each other?
While the solution is simple – Put your trash in the trash bins! People in my neighborhood will NOT do so. They’re probably used to being kings and queens at home and expect the city to do so. So my solution? Determine whether the booby traps in our local park are minimal. If so, we stay and play. If not, we walk to a further park. Hunter doesn’t seem to mind at all. The further parks have better grass!
Plus, he’s usually a good helped and will carry his own drool soaked frisbee home!
Thank you friends for listening to my rant. I feel a lot better. By the way, we went on a family vacation to Maine last week. Hunter had an absolute blast! We’re going to post some pictures later this week! Until next time!
Hunter's Daily Howlings 
Sadly those experiences are not unique to Brooklyn. We also get the glass, the chicken bones etc. We even currently have some delinquent spreading peanut butter over playground equipment! While Ray probably thinks he’s in heaven, any child with an allergy to peanuts can become seriously ill (if not die from it in some circumstances). I guess there is no limit to human stupidity.
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You said it perfectly – human stupidity!
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I live in a tiny tiny village in the UK and the amount of glass we see is staggering. By the field or play park there’s always smashed glass, in the hut where spectators can watch local football teams (which is where the idiotic teenagers like to hang out in the evening) there’s an abundance of food litter and smashed glass, which is renewed regularly and makes cleaning it utterly pointless.
Several years ago my Collie cross was on an off lead walk in the woods and cut an artery on what the vet said was most likely smashed glass, either smashed glass or wire. Prior to that we lived in a rough area of a city and were at the vets every other week as Kasper would cut himself on walks.
Thankfully we know where the glass tends to be in this area so can avoid it, and we’re better at managing Kasper…but I really wish people would stop and use their brains before littering or sending glass shards everywhere 😦
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It’s so sad and unfortunate! People are dumb!
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