New Off-Leash Program in Works for the Boston Common
New proposal asks dog owners to take a more active role in maintaining the park.
Boston Parks Commissioner Antonia Pollak says the biggest complaint she gets about the Boston Common, outside of the homeless people who hang out there, is unleashed dogs. Indeed, in a tightly packed residential area like Beacon Hill, the Common is the only nearby space with enough room for dogs to run – and there are roughly 10,000 of them living downtown. But this practice unleashes not only the dogs, but many neighbors' fury as well. "It's not balanced now. It's not working," Pollak said at a meeting last week with residents eager to hammer out a new and lasting off-leash policy for the Common. A city ordinance prohibits dogs from being untethered unless they are in a specified off-leash area. Currently, that area on the Common is …
