Well-heeled bring dog walkers to heel

Who let the pettifogs out? The nags and the fusspots who’ve managed to get the dog walkers tossed out of Ramsden Park.

- ROSIE DIMANNO

Professional dog walker Ana Alvarado escorts a six-pack of Labradoodles, Bernedoodles and a boxer-mix through Ramsden Park on Friday. Rosedale residents convincing city council to ban walk-the-dogs working stiffs in the park is blatant class warfare, Rosie DiManno writes.

Because when you live in the Rosedale area, arguably the poshest neighbourhood in Toronto, there are apparently privileges that extend to making the lovely 13.7-acre urban oasis a no-go zone for bunches of canines unshackled from their commercial minders.

It might be a pooch-eat-pooch world but this is blatant class warfare: Well-heeled homeowners vs walk-the-dogs working stiffs. And they’ve brought them to heel.

An online petition to reverse the Rosedale-centric ban — it actually comes into effect on Sept. 19 — points the finger at one local resident in particular, accused of being behind the successful doggo boycott, a resident building an addition to his home, which backs onto a “small dog” pocket of the off-leash area, over primarily a noise complaint. But on a fine Friday morning, the only racket piercing the quiet calm emanates from the construction work on that property.

Otherwise, the park is fairly weekday busy, with strollers, pram pushers, joggers, dog owners, kids enjoying the children’s play area, tennis players, and pickleball players — designated courts for both. In the winter, there’s a skating rink. It’s a delightful recreational refuge in the heart of the city.

An ambler stops to pet Benson, Birdie, Oliver, Winnie, George and Dexter — a six-pack of Labradoodles, Bernedoodles and a boxer-mix — bounding around the fenced-in enclosure after being let off the leash by Ana Alvarado. Whole lot of gamboling and sniffing going on as the bow-wows greet their furry friends. Nary an arf is heard.

But of course dogs bark, when in the mood.