At heel, you cur

Like to walk your dog off-leash in Woodstock? Does your dog obey your every command? If you say, "Heel", will your dog stay by your side - no matter what?

Woodstock's City Code allows you to walk your dog on a leash or "at heel". At-heel means at your heel. It doesn't mean chasing rabbits and coming back when you call. It means at-your-heel. Period.

Former mayoral candidate Mark Indyke, co-owner of Dog 'n' Suds, is asking the Woodstock City Council to amend the current ordinance and to remove "at heel" from the City Code. If the City Council votes in favor of the proposed change on Tuesday night, then your dog will have to be on a leash when you are off your property.

Earlier in the summer a friend was walking her dog, and her dog stopped to leave a puddle on a lawn. The homeowner opened his front door and sicced his pitbull on them. Just as the dog reached them, the owner called his dog back.

That threat is actually covered under another section of the City Code, but it's an example of the threats that dog owners face when they are walking their dogs.

Mark has collected some 500 signatures on petitions he circulated and presented to the City Council. Interested in this subject? See you Tuesday night at the 7:00PM Woodstock City Council meeting.

It's too bad that the City does not make proposed ordinances and changes available on its website. If it did, then residents could become fully informed without making a trip to City Hall or to the Woodstock Library to read the packet that the members of the City Council receive before each meeting.

It's also too bad that the City Council gave a cold shoulder 3-4 years ago, when a suggestion was made that the City broadcast city council meetings on Comcast's public service channel. Now that would be real transparency in government!