CREDO: Censorship, Propogandist Lies & More Racism

This post was submitted to this blog by a supporter of Off-leash Hour Policy in NYC Parks:

Once again, CREDO has resorted to censorship, selective editing, and misrepresentation in order to advance his racist rants in a lame effort to discredit the off-leash community.

In his latest post: http://credo-ny.blogspot.com/2008/09/all-news-that-fits.html, Orrin (the lone face behind Credo) attempts to attack off leash by referencing the recent New York Times blog on dog parks and off-leash in New York City.

The Times question and answer blog was authored by Frances R. Sheridan, the writer and photographer of “Unleashed: The Dog Runs of New York City” Over three days, she answered reader’s questions about Dog Parks and off-leash rights.

Here are just a few of Orrin’s latest distortions:

• First he picks up the question on the Times site by Pashelle whom he claims is his friend Datnioides. If true, readers should know that Pashelle/Datnioides is really “Kim E” a disgruntled dog owner who has failed to train or socialize her dogs so that they can enjoy off-leash.
  
• Second, he posts her Times comment and then censors the response from a Prospect Park user identified on the Times as “Orrin.” He deleted the poster’s screen name and refers to an obvious typographical error as an “illiterate” response in a lame effort to denigrate the writer. We do not know who this “Orrin” is but suspect that it is a Prospect Park user familiar with CREDO/Orrin rants so this man or woman used “Orrin” as a way of tweaking CREDO. Or –and we have no way of knowing – this person really is someone named Orrin. After all, it is not so unique as to be exclusive to one person.
  
• Third, CREDO/Orrin then posts Ms. Sheridan’s response to Pashelle/Datnioides/KimE. Here is the full response:

Pashelle, I do have a great deal of empathy for those who are nervous around or
afraid of dogs. I am sorry you have had unpleasant experiences in your park. The
rules must be followed regarding the unleashed hours and you should alert the
parks police if you are finding them broken. The few who break the rules should
be fined and not be allowed to ruin an entire program for everyone. The great
majority of dog owners are sensitive to other people and do not want their dogs
to make them uncomfortable. This need not be a black-and-white issue where you
love or hate dogs simply because you want the rights of all park users
respected. “Also, reiterating what Orrin posted, the rules show that there are
specific areas and times for unleashed activity. You are by no means being
forced to endure any interaction with off leash dogs. “I am glad to hear your
dog is properly exercised and happy. It is possible, appropriate and necessary
for some dogs to only be walked while leashed. “I have spent a great deal of
time closely observing dogs, and I can tell you that there is a spark that
shines through when a dog owns its own movements and engages in play on its own
terms. It is a kind of transformative magic. For most dogs unleashed play is
healthy for their bodies through exercise, their minds through strategies and
independent thought, their emotions through their pet friendships, their hearts
through strengthening the bond they have with their person, and their spirits
through what a sense of freedom does for all living beings.”

• Credo/Orrin refers to Ms. Sheridan’s well thought-out responses as “platitudes” meaning “trite or prosaic.” Whenever he cannot refute the facts, he digresses to personal attacks. Poor Orrin. “The mind is a terrible thing to lose,” Dan Quayle.
  
• Finally, Credo quotes another New York Times reader who in response to Ms. Sheridan’s statement “the few who break the rules should be fined and not be allowed to ruin an entire program for everyone” with this comment:

“Yes, they should. But how do you identify them and fine them when both the dog
and the owner run away after breaking a pedestrian’s knee or causing a cyclist
to crash, trashing the bike and breaking a collarbone? You can’t, period. For
you to suggest so is unrealistic at best, possibly hypocritical. It’s “love me,
love my dog,”

Once again, Credo failed to post the response to that by another Times reader named Steve: “

bicyclists and automobiles are faster than dog owners and dogs. Yes, there are
violators and some do run away, but the same might be said about bikers and
drivers. The few should not be used to ruin it for the majority who do abide by
the laws. Neither should those few be used to castigate the majority.”

Of course Credo/Orrin cannot acknowledge the truth in Steve’s comment. After all, it is logical and well reasoned.

CREDO RACISM CONTINUES

Credo/Orrin continues his racist rants with this posted statement:

“And, as we keep pointing out, while it is true that the neighborhoods
around Prospect Park are ethnically diverse, the off-leash community is almost
exclusively white.”

After citing five alleged violations of off-leash rules out of hundreds of thousands of off-leash users in three city parks (two of the most visited urban parks in the nation, by the way), once again, CREDO/Orrin resort to racism.

We know Orrin checks the www.FidoBrooklyn.com website since he often refers (and misinterprets) it. Readers, we invite you to check the facts. Last weekend, a NY State Senator yn hosted Diversity Day in Prospect Park with dog owners (later followed by a diversity bike ride event). FIDO has posted several photos of the event.

As any objective reader can easily discern from the photographs, participants were black, white, brown, and yellow. They were old, young. They were handicapped and body able. They were male and female. In short, they were a cross section of New York City in all its glorious diversity.

Off-leashers come from all communities. Socializing their dogs together allows people to get to know one another. Few dog owners (and no responsible dog owners) distinguish by race or ethnicity. It simply is unimportant.

CREDO/Orrin is attempting to use race as a wedge issue to separate people by race for his own purposes. He wants people out of Prospect Park.

Just read his prior post wherein he claims that dogs are responsible for wear and tear on lawns and ballfields utilized by literally millions of Prospect Park users. Somehow –against all facts (just read the comments and his silly responses to the commenter) - he knows that dogs caused the wearing down of the outfields by every baseball diamond. Somehow he knows that dogs caused the damage near a corner where multiple sidewalks converge at odd angles. It must be difficult living as the “all knowing being of all things.”


FOR THOSE WHO WOULD LIKE TO READ THE FULL NEW YORK TIMES Q&A ON DOG PARKS AND OFF-LEASH

For those who missed the Times, here are four direct links to questions and answers. Francis Sheridan is a fabulous photographer and writer. You should check out her book while you are at it.

THE ORIGINAL TIMES QUESTIONS:
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/02/ask-about-new-yorks-dog-runs/?scp=1&sq=Frances%20R.%20Sheridan&st=cse

ANSWERS ONE:
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/03/answers-about-new-yorks-dog-runs/

ANSWERS TWO:
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/answers-about-new-yorks-dog-runs-part-2/

ANSWERS THREE:
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/answers-about-new-yorks-dog-runs-part-3/