Newly Proposed Law Would Welcome Dogs to New York State Parks

Alright, so we all know how government works when it comes to passing new bills or laws, right? New bills are presented, they're eventually voted on in both the House and Senate, and if they pass through both of those bodies they can be sent to the President or Governor and be ratified into law. The process can get a little more complicated at points but that's the general idea.

In the state of New York, the process is a little different where it's the state Assembly and Senate that vote for new bills. Anyway, that very basic description of how a law becomes a law brings us to today where the state of New York may soon pass new legislation that will allow dogs access to state parks.

First and foremost, I have to be honest, I was unaware that most state parks did not allow owners to bring their dogs to the park. In any case, this newly proposed legislation would see that owners can bring their dogs to state parks and even beaches. As with any legislation, this new law would have its own rules to follow.

For starters, owners would have to keep their dogs on a leash and supervise them at all times. Secondly, all dogs must be up to date regarding their vaccinations. Violations of the law can leave individuals subject to a fine(s).

The newly proposed legislation would also obviously have some implications for the state parks as well. According to the article from Patch, parks must provide 'garbage cans and biodegradable waste bags' as well as 'dog care stations' for patrons who bring their pooches.

Finally, in terms of this legislation, two New York State Parks would not be subject to these laws even if they were to pass. Those two parks are Adirondack and Catskill State Parks.

As with just about anything, there are some out there with concerns over the potential new law. The number one concern was that unfortunately not all owners 'clean up' after nature calls for their furry friends and rightfully so. We've all been there before and that's a surprise no one wants to step in.

Secondly, some concerns also existed because areas in certain parks can act as nature preserves for endangered wildlife. This issue however has been addressed with the legislation as according to Senator Monica Martinez through Fox stated...

NYS Parks Commissioner may restrict certain areas of the parks and beaches for the protection of park goers, natural landscape, and endangered birds/nesting.

Senator Martinez of Bay Shore is one of the individuals that brought this bill to Albany as well as Assemblyman Steve Stern of Melville. It looks as though the bill has support as Assemblyman Stern believes the bill should be passed in a matter of weeks.