New leash laws encourage abuse

Despite claims that the new leash rules were being planned before the Laurelhurst poisonings, it was widely viewed as a victory for the evil person who did it. By creating rules that imply that dogs are so dangerous that they must be tightly regulated (and violations harshly punished), the city has sent a message that dogs and their owners are fair game for threats and violence. And there are several unhinged people all over the city that have heard the city's message. Here's a sign I saw today posted at a middle school play lot:

Instead of being a reasoned and reasonable response to some legitimate concerns about how we use our parks in Portland, the new rules were a draconian response that almost overnight stripped a large percentage of neighborhood park users of their use of the parks. Measures like this reward and provide cover for people who have no qualms about injuring or killing dogs, their owners, children and other users of city parks.

This is not the only example. Many people who were exercising with their dogs have been intimidated and threatened while at the park. And don't forget the poor dog that acutually got shot with a gun at Mt. Tabor.

UPDATE:
The police department used a metal detector to retreive more than 100 hand-cut triangular spikes that were embedded in the ground throughout the school grounds with one sharp point facing upwards. More were found last week. Don't know if it's another sewing of spikes or overlooked spikes...