The Great Lawn in Central Park became the Great Doggie Lawn…
For four days after the Global Citizens Concert, the fence around the great lawn was left down…and the dogs moved in.
I swear I could hear all the dogs say, “Best day EVER. And…why not every day?”
Those dogs have a good question. Why not every day?
Our dogs are no longer just pets. We know the power and pervasiveness of the human-animal bond that we have with our dogs.
Our dogs sleep in our beds, sit on our couches, comfort us when we cry, make us laugh when we most need it. They visit strangers in hospitals, nursing homes, schools, etc., to bring joy and therapy. They work to find, support, and guide their humans as various working and service dogs.
Don’t they deserve some of the fifty-five acres of the Great Lawn more often than just by accident after concerts.
I would imagine that morning dog-play won’t tear up the lawn any more than these huge concerts or any more than hundreds (if not thousands) of baseball cleats do every weekend during the season.
These four days when it was the Great Doggie Lawn were a civilized gift for dogs and their humans who live in an often emotionally and physically challenging city.
Why can’t the Central Park Conservancy give that gift more often by opening up the Great Lawn and other baseball lawns for dogs and humans, even if only occasionally throughout the year?
