Orrin's Maniacal Obsession with FIDO

Orrin's back from vacation, but our hero did not take a vacation from his unnatural rage and obsession against 400+ of his fellow citizens who are paying members of Fellowship in the Interest of Dogs and their Owners (FIDO) of Prospect Park. (There are hundreds of others who do not pay membership but affiliate themselves with FIDOs aims of responsible dog ownership).

Let's take another brief voyage into the delusional mind of our Hero:

Orrin writes,

We took one of our occasional glances at the FIDO website.

We comment:
"We"? Again with the pronoun trouble. "The Committee" is Orrin sitting with his face 2 inches from his screen trying to count the number of "Black" people in photos posted to FIDO's website.

Orrin writes:

"one of our occasional glances at the FIDO website"

HA! Orrin is so obsessed with the good people of FIDO and their organization that he could recite the entire FIDO website backwards in his sleep.


Orrin writes:

Encouragement to take out dog licenses. But nothing about dogs not allowed
off-leash unless they are licensed, which in fact is the law.

Gee Orrin, if you want to get technical, dogs in NYC are ALL supposed to be licensed, whether they are on leash or off leash. Why do you make the distinction and why should FIDO? FIDO actively encourages all dog owners to license their dogs, and in fact, at their monthly Coffee Bark get togethers in the Long Meadow, has for years had dog license applications available on the tables.

Clearly, our Hero is reaching for anything possible to criticize, when there's nothing to criticize. Reminds us of the bizzaro emails floating around the Internet slandering a certain presidential candidate. Orrin likes to take the Rovian approach.

1. Pictures of FIDO’s tenth anniversary celebration. Except for a state senator
who spoke at the celebration, everyone in each of the pictures is white.

Yes, except for that state senator, and except the scores of other African Americans out of the crowd of hundreds there to celebrate FIDO's anniversary. But how could you know that, Dear Orrin, because you weren't even there. So instead, you choose to make up your racist "facts" whole cloth. But why let that stop you?

That aforementioned state senator was there, in fact, Dear Orrin, to praise FIDO and its multicultural welcoming outreach to all communities in Brooklyn. But that doesn't quite fit into your vile racism does it? Dear Orrin's like a reporter for a newspaper who glances at secondary sources and then tries to write a story--WITHOUT EVEN BEING THERE. Of course, our Dear Orrin would never have the cojones to actually come out from behind his tree to actually hear the good Senator praising the organization that Orrin so maniacally hates.

And of course, our Dear Orrin willfully ignores all the other photos on the FIDO site and on other NYC offleash sites that show African Americans, Asians, and people of all abilities, disabilities, ethnic groups and social classes responsibly enjoying legal Off-leash Hours policy. Don't count those "Black" people Orrin, it completely refutes your Cynical Bogus Racist Ploy.

Keep up the racism Orrin, you simply discredit anything you say. Also keep analyzing every pixel on the FIDO website. You might learn something that isn't processed through your scheme to slander your neighbors.

Orrin's Sisyphean Mission

Perhaps it’s because our Dear Orrin crawled out from under his rock and joined the off-leash rejectionist micro-movement very late in the game in 2006-2007 that he feels the need to regurgitate all their old discredited, misinformed, and sophistic “arguments” against the formal NYC Parks Off-leash Hours Policy.

The old tired “arguments” that were rejected in NYS Supreme Court (the rejectionists used to constantly complain that the 20+ year successful was illegal only to learn after their expensive law suit that it was their wishful thinking), at the Health Department (unanimous 13-0 vote in favor of off-leash policy), the Parks Department hearings (that resulted in codified off-leash), and in the NYC Court of Public Opinion, which time after time showed the vast majority of the public supports off-leash hours policy in NYC Parks. A good example of this is the 13,000+ letters (98%) received by the NYC Health Department of public support in favor of Off-leash recreation in City Parks and only 202 (2%) letters received against the Off-leash Policy. Or this TimeOut NY survey that showed that 81% of New Yorkers surveyed supported providing dogs and their owners with some off-leash time in New York City Parks: http://www.nycoffleash.com/html/files/TimeOutNYreaderspoll.pdf

Oh, yes, the rejectionists tried very hard to portray Off-leash recreation as, a) illegal, b) poor public health policy, c) poor parks policy, and d) not supported by the general public. As we all know, recent history shut them down on all fronts and they failed miserably. For those interested, a concise and accurate chronicle can be found here: http://www.nycoffleash.com/html/threat.htm

Don’t let the cold hard facts get in the way of your sophistry, Dear Orrin.

The 2 Percenters (Off-leash Rejectionists) are schizophrenic about the popularity of Off-leash Hours Policy. When it suits their sophistry, they claim that the parks are simply overrun with off-leash dogs and their owners. But then, when it suits their ploy to misinform and mischaracterize the policy, they claim that only a minuscule fraction of dog owners in the City use the Off-leash Hours. So, which is it Dear Orrin? You can’t have it both ways.

We wonder how many people use bocce courts in NYC parks, or the tennis courts, or riding trails, or skating rinks, or locked ball fields like the ones at Juniper Valley Park, or play soccer, or touch football in the parks. Clearly, each activity has a very small percent of the population that participates in each.

Of course, most rational non-haters don’t begrudge their fellow citizens time and space in the Parks to enjoy their specific activity. No rational person is trying to ban birders or cricket players, or runners, Little Leagues playing on locked ball fields, or bocce players, though some of these activities are enjoyed be a very small percentage of the park going public. But Orrin just can’t control his rage and must lash out against his fears and spin his sophistry.

However, as Commissioner Adrian Benepe pointed out recently, dog owners are the largest activity-specific constituency group in the NYC Parks system, other than casual park users. Anyone who bothers to come out to Prospect, Marine, Central, Cadman, Juniper Valley, Riverside, Ft. Greene, or any of the 88 parks where designed off-leash recreation is allowed before 9am will see thousands of people each day utilizing the policy through the park system.

But Orrin and some of his micro-ilk loathe Commissioner Benepe and the Bloomberg Administration—thinking they are somehow controlled by some all powerful Off-leash cabal that is behind the scenes pulling the strings of Mike Bloomberg. Vast conspiracy!

Just this past Saturday in Prospect Park, despite the threat of poor weather, and the beginning of the August vacation season, there were conservatively three hundred dogs and their owners in the Long Meadow alone before 9am enjoying codified Off-leash recreation. More evidence of a vast conspiracy!

How many other activities, such as birding, boating, skating, football, baseball, Frisbee, sunbathing, kite flying, and the list goes on, can even come close to half the number of people that are drawn into the park on a day in and day out basis, in all weather, and in all seasons to exercise and socialize their dogs and to enjoy the company of their fellow citizens? Perhaps running and cycling can come close.

Or perhaps it’s because Orrin's previous Cynical Bogus Racist Ploy was exposed and made our Dear Orrin seem like a bit of a crackpot, that our hero must go back to the well of old failed arguments to come up with something—something!

Alas, Dear Orrin, these arguments failed miserably a year and a half ago when you were late to the party and they will fail again. But keep trying to throw them against the wall. Fight the battle all over again Sisyphus!

Commisar Orrin's Big Dog Test

Another day, another non sequitur from our Dear Orrin.

It appears that Orrin doesn't believe that "big dogs" should be allowed in NYC.

We wonder what else Orrin doesn't want his fellow citizens to enjoy? Perhaps if you live in a "big house", as judged by Orrin, that shouldn't be allowed. Or if you drive a "big car" perhaps that's also a capital offense in Orrin's World. Or if you're over 6' 2" you'd be taking up too much space on the sidewalk, or somehow you'd be intimidating to our Dear Orrin. But somehow we think that anything dog related gets Orrin going.

Here's our hero's latest delusional ejaculation:

Someone else ought to tell her—just as someone should have
told those who demanded off-leash privileges to exercise their big dogs—that if
she can’t deal with her animals without bothering other people, she shouldn’t
keep them. Nothing entitles her to keep big dog in the city. It’s not fair to
the dogs and it’s not fair to anyone else. You want a big dog, get a
farm.

Note the way, "someone should tell her" coming from Dear Orrin. Someone, anyone, please tell "her" that she shouldn't have a big dog! Only medium and small size dogs at Off-leash Hours. D'oh, actually, no dogs at Off-leash Hours in Orrin's World, but at the very least, only small to medium size dogs. The big dogs will just have to go to a farm. Buses will leave hourly to transport dogs over Orrin's standards to farms just outside of NYC Limits. Orrin will personally be driving these buses. Tips are appreciated.

In Orrin's World, of course there would be no off-leash hours in NYC parks, but apparently all dog owners, if any were indeed allowed, would need to have the size of their dogs personally approved by Canine Commisar Orrin to see that they met his personal size standards. Perhaps ever Monday and Thursday afternoon between 1-2:30pm, Orrin would have inspection hours to see if your dog was small enough to be allowed to live within City Limits, rather than being put on a farm.

You see, despite loathing dogs and their owners, Orrin's a dog expert! Yes, just ask him! And in Orrin's World, it's just not fair to these big dogs to be kept in NYC--and "it's not fair to anyone else"--of course meaning Commissar Orrin--because he just doesn't like dogs and their owners. The bigger the dog, the more he doesn't like it. It's a pound for pound proportional ratio, the bigger the dog, the more Orrin's irrational hate. It's just not fair, people!

Orrin must have really hated that Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz was in Prospect Park this morning celebrating FIDO's anniversary, and presenting a borough proclamation naming today FIDO in Prospect Park day. Oh, the chagrin, oh the outrage that these many hundred of "privileged" citizens are using the park in ways that Commissar Orrin does not approve! And it's officially sanctioned! The outrage!

Datnioides=Kim E., Pit Bull Owner.