Dogs die but nothing to do with off-leash debate - okay, sure

What is it with these City employees? Happy pills?

Twice this week, they've searched for that single, fragile thread of cock-eyed optimism where others see unpleasant reality.

Two dogs died and four others are sick after drinking antifreeze in High Park. Police suspect the poisonings are related to controversy over the Dog Hill off-leash area. Take it out on innocent animals, why don't you?

But as Nick Kyonka reports in today's Star, a top park official sees no connection whatsoever. According to the analysis of Robin Sorys, chair of the park's advisory committee:

"I think this is just an isolated situation. It just happened to come at a time when we were reviewing the off-leash area."

Say what?

And here's more reason not to worry: TTC streetcars are safe, as long as they don't jump the tracks.

Over the past 10 days, four people were hospitalized after one streetcar rear-ended another on the Queensway, and another seven were off to hospital, including the driver, when another two cars collided at Bay and Dundas, knocking one off the track.

A Prithi Yelaja Star story says TTC chair Adam Giambrone isn't overly worried because they didn't jump the tracks. That's a relief. Toronto has the best tracks in the world. Giambrone could get worried, but not now:

"If we get another two in the next two weeks then we begin to say at what point is it coincidence and at what point do you have a big problem?

So two, no problem. Four, a big problem.

Maybe it's just me, but what if there's a problem now?

And what about not pointing an easy finger of blame at the drivers? As in Giambrone's "these cases usually come down to driver error."

Comments

[JoyM]

In regards to the poisonings in High Park, I find this not only upsetting but once again find humans willing to overlook their own inefficiencies to try and find blame with someone, or in this case, something else. I have a dog, she's a lovely animal who wouldn't hurt a fly. She also wouldn't drop pop cans/newspapers/food wrappers/cigarette butts/liquor bottles/used needles/condoms/etc anywhere that she travels. Nor would she ever pick up a spray paint can and write her options, asked for or not, upon any property that does not belong to her. All she wants to do is run, play with other dogs/people, have fun, live carefree within the boundaries that we humans have impossed on these now domesticated beasts, and all with a friendly wag of her tail and as many free licks as you will let her bestow upon you. There are careless owners of dogs, well more lazy then careless in my opinion, but they are not the norm, the same as I'm sure the person who saw fit to try and murder innocent animals would never think of littering or creating graffity, which when you really think about it is far more damaging to the parks environment then anything the dogs might manage to do. I suppose that if we're to ban the dogs then we might just as well get rid of the zoo, those beasts seem to create a negative impact, or maybe while we're at it we should rid the park of all animals, wild or tame, so there go the foxes, squirrels, ducks, geese, swans, fish, etc and while we're at it why don't we get rid of the childrens play area, those areas can't be environmentally friendly, then of course the playing fields should be dealt away with, why are we cutting the grass there anyway, that can't be good.
Are we forgetting why the park was formed in the first place. It's suppose to be a wonderful natural and beautiful area for all the people of Toronto to be able to come and enjoy either a day out hiking, walking their dogs, communing with nature, picnicing, playing ball, and for a few minutes out of our hectic lives trying to reconnect with the really important things in life, nature and each other. We are truly lucky and blessed to have such a wonderful enviroment that we can all share in and be proud of. How sad that one person has decided that the park belongs to them and only them and that the rest of us should be grateful if they let us use the darn thing at all. Shame on you, you coward and murderer.

[Sandy Hart]

After hearing about the dead wildlife also found in the vicinity of High Park where the dogs were poisoned, especially the deceased raccoons which were deliberately posed with a bouquet of flowers in its paws and an also deceased squirrel, respectively.
I'm not convinced these heinous acts had as much to do with an objection to off-leash dogs as they do dealing with a seriously demented and dangerous person(s) with no regard for any life.
It must have taken a lot of time and premeditation to poison the raccoons, follow them and wait (perhaps hours) for them to die (wildlife generally retreats to hide when they are injured, ill or dying), and finally, posing their bodies in the ways they were discovered.
Who knows how many cats have also succumbed to this fate, with their owners concluding they must have run away or met with a road accident?
In my opinion, the individual(s) responsible for this need to be caught & punished to the fullest extent of the law! It's not so much about animals dying, although I am also a pet owner & animal lover - even of raccoons, which I hand-feed, but more about the city having a very sick and dangerous 'monster' at large.
Who knows where they'll strike next? How long will it be until the entire city is 'on guard' when a simple walk in the park is no longer 'a walk in the park'?