Orrin's New Cynical Bogus Rabies Ploy; More Intentional Misinformation (aka lies) from Orrin

Longtime readers will recall that our Dear Orrin has had his treasured goal of eradicating the successful 20+ Year NYC Off-leash Hours Policy thwarted at every level:

• Legal - A NYS Supreme Court case to eradicate the policy was defeated in 2006
• Court of Public Opinion - Survey after survey has shown the vast majority of NYC residents approve of the Off-leash Hours policy.
• Public Health - In December 2006 the NYC Health Board unanimously amended the "Leash Law" to specifically permit the Parks Commissioner to promulgate the Off-leash Hours Policy.
• Parks Policy - In 2007, after public hearings where the vast majority of public comment was in favor, the NYC Parks Department codified the Off-leash Hours policy.

"Drat," thought Dear Orrin, scientists, epidemiologists, public policy professionals, the vast majority of the public all have looked at the 20+ years of experience with the successful Off-leash Hours Policy, and have not just approved it as is, decided to codify it into both Health Department and Parks Department regulations. "Double Drat", thought our Dear Orrin.

Then Orrin decided that he'd be Going Rogue. He realized that judges, public health professionals, and the general public are a difficult thing to go up against. So he'd have to concoct some sneaky, underhanded, bogus claims to try and poke holes in these unanimous decisions.

That's when Orrin came up with his Cynical Bogus Racist Ploy. But of course that failed miserably as well for our Dear Orrin. The only thing it was successful at was convincing rational non-racist people that Dear Orrin needs his meds adjusted, or that Orrin harbors some bizarre racist theories about people and animals.

"Triple drat!", thought our Dear Orrin. "What to do, what to do?"

Then Orrin's previous assertions that park goers need to protect themselves against the blood that runs in our City parks every day from dogs and their owners by carrying pepper spray. This bizarre assertion won our Dear Orrin front page attention from the NY Post for his 15 minutes of infamy! He was dubbed the "Pepper Spray Vigilante" and a photo of his gorgeous mug outed our dear hero.

"Quadruple drat!", thought our Dear Orrin. "I'm getting my message out there; getting lots of publicity, but everyone thinks I'm a wackjob. Am I the only one in this City of millions that sees things clearly?"

Fortunately Dear Orrin isn't alone in this great big City with his hateful ideas to destroy the Off-leash Hours Policy. Orrin's tripled membership in his so-called "Committee for Responsible Dog Ownership" (of course Orrin doesn't actually own a dog). Now there are three members, and one actually owns a dog! Another guy calls himself "ChickenUnderwear". It's nice to see that Orrin has some odd new friends who share some of his interests.

But still no traction in the court of public opinion for Orrin. In fact, more and more parks have instituted designated Off-leash Hours areas. "Quintuple drat!" stews our Hero.

Now comes Orrin with a new cynical ploy to scare someone into taking him seriously: Rabies! We'll dub it his Cynical Bogus Rabies Ploy, so as not to confuse it with Orrin's previous unsuccessful Cynical Bogus Racist Ploy.

Of course, Dear Orrin must have missed that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control declared over two years ago that canine rabies has been eradicated from the United States. But Orrin hasn't let pesky facts get in his way before, so why start now?

Orrin has an interesting way of interpreting statistics. Department of Health stats show that rabies has been in most of the five boroughs for many years now, primarily in raccoons. There hasn't been a recorded case of canine rabies for over 40 years! And, of course, the successful Off-leash Hours policy has been in effect for over 20 years, now in 89 parks from 9pm-9am every day. That's a major public health success, mostly achieved by responsible dog owners who have vaccinated and continue to vaccinate their dogs against rabies.

Odd that with rabies in in raccoons in most NYC boroughs for at least a decade, and with canine rabies eradicated in the United States for at least the past two years, Orrin's now horribly concerned that the Offleash Hours policy will now lead to rabies transmission.

Dear Orrin should be worried however, that rabid raccoons in certain parks could curtail his birdwatching activities. It would be a tragedy if Orrin were bitten by a rabid raccoon while traipsing through the woods trying to sight birds. And of course, unlike most dogs who live in NYC whose vets insist they are vaccinated against rabies, virtually no humans are immune to the rabies virus.

If Orrin is correct about rabies, we suggest that Orrin stay out of the parks until the rabid raccoon situation is remedied. It's too dangerous for humans to bird watch with those rabid raccoons out there. We wouldn't want Orrin to become more rabid than he already is.

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More fuzzy math for Dear Orrin and one of his three members of the so-called "Committee for Responsible Dog Owners". The claim is that since codification of the Successful 20+ Year Off-leash Hours Policy, City dog bites have gone up. As our previous post has shown, Orrin is again completely wrong in his assertion, and now one of his "Committee" members have picked up on Orrin's misinformation. Poor Dear Orrin, so often, so wrong.

Happy Holidays to all, even Dear Orrin and the wretched refuse from the so-called "Committee for Responsible Dog Ownership".

We'll see you in the park.