I have been walking Harley with some ladies from the neighborhood who also have dogs. We meet at around 9 a.m and just walk up and down the greenbelt with the dogs off leash (yes, that's what I said, Harley walks off leash!) Over on the Westbrooke side there are a couple of yards that don't have fences, they have trees or hedges, but the dogs can get in to their yards if we don't watch them. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago we were walking and this old man came out and started yelling at us because apparently we didn't "pick up" after one of the dogs, and all we do is yap and we ignore the dogs as they run mindlessly around the greenbelt unsupervised. He really tore into us, and we were very apologetic and told him that we try our best to be good about picking up after the dogs etc. One of my friends who's name will remain undisclosed to protect the innocent,has quite a colorful way with words and expresses her opinion of this grouchy old man in a way that I am not able to share with you my readers, you just need to know that this man spends the better part of the morning creeping the greenbelt and has made our morning walks feel a bit more like walking on egg shells than a peaceful walk in an off leash park!Let's just say we're not big fans of the grouch man! This particular man lives in one of the houses on the Westbrook side with no fence. So just last week we were walking along and I looked back and Harley was right behind me about 10 paces away. I walked forward for about 30 more seconds and then looked back and NO HARLEY. In looking to the side I quickly realized we were right in line with the grouchy mans back yard. It didn't take my brain long to connect the dots and I moved swiftly to retrieve my dog knowing that we would both be in big trouble if she was discovered loose in his back yard. I spotted Harley sniffing over by a big pine tree and started yelling at her to get out and noticed at the same time that she was pawing at an object quite vigorously. As I got a little closer my heart began to race as the object had the appearance of a small cage and I could just imagine what would happen when my dog got a hold of what could possibly be the grouchy mans pet bunnies or something of the like. When I was right up to the "cage" and looked in I was both stunned and infuriated at what was discovered. In a wire mesh cage about 1 1/2 x 2 1/2 feet was six or seven pieces of what appeared to be fried chicken, Kentucky Fried Chicken to be more precise!! I didn't have time or the guts to look up at the house to see if I was being watched, I just grabbed Harley's collar and bolted it out of there faster than i had made it in. Back on the greenbelt safe in the company of my dog loving comrades, I gave an account of my near dog life threatening experience in the grouchy man's yard. We all came to the obvious conclusion that the grouchy man was indeed attempting to lure my, and any other so unfortunate canine friend in to his back yard so that he could A.) Attempt to put an end to my poor innocent dogs sweet life or B.) and far more probable, he was trying to lure any four legged friend into his back yard to have evidence of the "irresponsible dog owners" who frequent the off leash park and try to shut it down! We were all completely incensed to say the least and decided that we would make a combined effort to put a stop to this kind of in-canine type of prejudice treatment, we would all put in a call to city By-law enforcement and attempt to beat the grouchy man (who is now very unaffectionately referred to as the Kernel) at his own game!! By-law said they would investigate and that if I felt it necessary, could call them with my reference number in hand on Monday to find out the result of their investigations. I will be waiting on hold for the better part of tomorrow morning to find out if the Kernel will be brought to justice!!! I know I need to get a life, and I promise when all this is behind me I will!
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