Description

To those who continue to insist that they have right to use our youth baseball fields as dog parks: Please listen. Please go back and review my explanation that I posted on 6-16-20, from the perspective of both a dog owner and as someone who has spent many years coaching youth baseball and serving as a league official. I agree that the facilities for dogs are insufficient. But it is simply a FACT that dogs damage the fields. The damage was and remains a constant source of frustration on the part of our volunteer coaches and board members. During the season, there is hardly a monthly board meeting where the topic of dog damage and dog fouling on the fields, and the unsafe and unsanitary conditions for players that results, is not discussed. You can deny it all you want. You can claim it isn't your dog. That's not the point. Because it isn't just one dog. It's countless dogs. The wear and tear on the fields is very real. And it's children who ultimately bear the burden.

Youth baseball is finally getting underway. Perhaps more than almost anyone else, children have suffered tremendously over the past few months. They had hockey and basketball seasons cut short. They lost their spring sports. They lost three months of education. They literally could not see their friends for weeks in end. They were in fear of something they could not see and could not understand. Some lost relatives. So now that they can at least start playing baseball, please just leave their ball fields alone and find somewhere else for your dog. I do. So can you.

If you think your dog is more important than our community's children, there is probably nothing I can say that will make you change your behavior. For the rest of you, please listen to the concerns of your fellow residents, and follow the rule.

Also, please be aware that it is not just one person posting. This is only my second on the topic. And please also be aware that probably every single member of the Malden baseball community -- players, parents, coaches, board members, and the DPW who has to repair the damage -- agrees with me.

And to the City of Malden: please do something about the insufficient and unsafe dog park facilities. Residents should not end up pitted against one another like this.