NYCityPets.com

The short version: Dogs should not be tied up in front of bodegas or any other kind of public place as you run a quick errand.

The long version: Pet people sometimes decide to tie their dogs up in front of local bodegas when they are on quick stops in this city. This dog parking phenomenon happens frequently in cities where cars are not the main mode of transport and people are accustomed to running most errands on foot.

Starbucks locations are treated like dog parking lots. Or perhaps this New Yorker cover predicts a role reversal in the future. Dogblog out of San Francisco keeps us up to speed with scene of dogs tied up in public on the West Coast. Although Jon at Dogblog has some funny thoughts about what these dogs are thinking, there isn’t anything funny when a dog is abducted from the spot where he was left.

Dubi’s family will attest to this since the woman who took him even called to inform them she would not return their dog. And Lady’s owner, Patti Hagan, who lives on our street, found her dog after someone abducted her in 2007 and a community pitched in to spread the word.

This isn’t another post about scaring you into thinking people will take your dog while you are walking on the street (looking at you Upper West Side email writers). What is important here is that there are times where good law-abiding or even overzealous animal-loving citizens will start to take action (read: remove the dog) if the dog is tied up too long. You can make a difference for your dog by just keeping the errand running separate from the dog walking. It may take more effort or planning, but you will not have to worry about your dog the entire time you are in the store if you just avoid tying up in the first place.

Please consider leaving dogs at home when stepping out for the morning bagel or running to the corner for chips or beer. Don’t let the owners of the bodega pictured here tell you where to park your dog. It will be sad to see websites like Dogblog run out of witty commentary when no dogs are tied to parking meters. But it will be worth it.

Keeping Warm via Gothamist link and by Plutohead on Flickr.