To leash or not to leash? That is the question.

Its a question plaguing not only dog owners, but also the police, the city, the county and even veterinarians.

Its an emotional issue, an issue where just about everyone seems to have an opinion.

Adding to the confusion are the various jurisdictions, with varying degrees of enforcement of leash laws.

The city of Bend has its leash law, Des-chutes County enforces another, and even the U.S. Forest Service has its own set of dog laws. Some of the dog leash laws on Forest Service land change with the seasons.

In Bend, the law requires that your dog must be on a leash if it is not on your personal property.

If youre cited for an unleashed dog, expect the ticket to set you back more than $300.

Just last year, the city also made it a violation to bring your dogs to special events.

We found large crowds and pets just dont mix, explained Bend City Recorder Patricia Stell. If you do bring your dog, there is a ticket associated with that. We had to put this new law into effect because we were getting more and more run-ins with dogs.

The cost of bringing your dog to a special event in the city can be a $500 ticket, plus court costs, according to Stell.

This new law prohibiting dogs from special events angers veterinarian Dr. Deb LaPaugh, who sees the city becoming less dog friendly.

There is no place to go with your dog anymore, said LaPaugh, who runs LaPaw Animal Hospital in Bend and owns a pit bull. Really, its just a small percentage who ruin it for everyone else. I dont think its fair.

Bend Police Capt. John Maniscalco agrees that it might not always be fair, but he says at a festival or special event, they cant automatically distinguish well-behaved dogs from dogs that may hurt someone or another dog.

The rules were driven by incidents that occurred in the past. I remember about four years ago an unleashed dog ran in front of a bike in a big downtown criterium, and it caused a big crash, recalled Maniscalco. There were a lot of injuries, a lot of racers got stacked up; it was the womens final stage. The dog owner took off.

Maniscalco can list from memory at least another dozen incidents that brought on the dog laws. He says theyve had incidents with unleashed dogs running into parades, dogs knocking over children, a dog knocking over an elderly man with a walker, and as he ticks them off by memory, Maniscalco just shakes his head.

Dangerous walk

Lisa Johnston was walking her 10-year-old chocolate Labrador, Cooper, in her west-side neighborhood last autumn when three German shepherds came bounding across the street toward Cooper and began attacking him.

I was one block from my home, and they just came after him; they got him in his neck, hindquarter and stomach. In two or three minutes there was this pool of blood; they were so strong, said Johnston, who had Cooper on a leash. It was completely terrifying, and I thought, What if my daughter or son, who are 7 and 9 years old, had been walking Cooper?

Johnston said the owner eventually heard her screams, came out of the house, and was able to get the dogs off Cooper.

Cooper survived after several hours of surgery.

Canyon Davis, community service officer for the Bend Police Department, remembers being summoned to this call, because he says it was the worst dog-on-dog attack that he has ever seen.

Those German shepherds, it was like an NFL team going after a junior varsity player; it was that bad, recalled Davis. Because of that dog attack, a new ordinance is being drafted by the district attorneys office.

Canyon recalls two of those three German shepherds were put down. The dogs had a documented history of a prior attack.

The Bend Police Department keeps records of homes where theyve been called about dog attacks.

Generally, its up to the judge, but its usually a two-strike rule, said Maniscalco. The dog will get a second chance based on the circumstances.

City vs. country living

As the population increases, the number of dog run-ins also goes up.

Deschutes County Sheriffs Deputy Tory Flory says the county ordinances are in place to protect dogs and humans alike.

Long gone are the days where you had 160 acres on a cattle farm and dogs could roam free, explained Flory. Any animal at large, not on your property, will cost you a ticket of $427.

The mandatory leash laws may be part of the growing pain Bend is experiencing as new people move into the community.

Johnston, a Seattle transplant herself, believes people move from a big city environment to Bend, expecting a rural lifestyle where dogs can be off leash.

Its sort of like the old Bend meeting up with the new Bend, but this area isnt really rural anymore, said Johnston.

They move here expecting all this freedom for their dogs, but Bend is becoming urban, and thats where theres this conflict.

Dog dollars

Maniscalco says taxpayers would probably be surprised at how much money, time and energy is consumed on dog issues by his five community service officers.

Can you imagine, if we didnt enforce the dog ordinances for a month, what would happen? questioned Maniscalco knowingly. There would be no semblance of order. There are too many people, and too many dogs. You have to have rules.

Interestingly enough, Maniscalco says he gets more complaints about his officers giving out dog and parking violations than anything else.

Ive arrested drunk drivers and sex offenders, but they dont get as mad as the people who are getting dog citations. Im not kidding, said Davis, who sees the number of dog violations double in the summer months. People get really, really emotional about it. You wouldnt believe it. The most upstanding citizen, an older guy, was hiding from me with his dog in the bushes. He was actually standing in the water, hiding.

Maniscalco explains that each and every complaint he gets from a dog owner about his officers has to be investigated, which uses more tax dollars.

Flory says each time one of his four animal-control officers picks up a loose dog, taxpayers pay for that dogs care. He also adds that if a loose dog is hurt or hit by a car, the veterinarian bill goes to the taxpayer as well.

Troy Kerstetter, animal welfare director of the Bend-based Humane Society of Central Oregon, says about 95 percent of the stray dogs brought to the shelter have no identification. Compounding the problem, 35 percent of these dogs will never be reclaimed.

In addition, each serious dog violation, such as an attack, can end up in the court system, which is also paid for by taxpayer dollars.

Fido in the forest

The forest lands are probably the area that causes the most confusion for dog owners.

With its wide-open spaces and trails, it can become a mixed bag of rules.

In developed recreational sites, such as boat ramps, picnic areas and trail heads, your dog must be on a leash at all times, said Chris Sabo, trails specialist for the Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District. The Deschutes River Trail requires a leash at all times.

Sabo says most forest service recreational areas have signs with specific rules about dogs.

A general rule of thumb would be if its a highly used area, with lots of traffic, your dog should be on a leash.

In some cases, such as Elk Lake, dogs are not permitted at all.

However, in more remote wilderness areas, Sabo points out dogs can be off leash.

Basically, it boils down to common courtesy and respect for others who are enjoying the forest areas.

In designated swim areas or developed picnic areas, these are off bounds to dogs, said Sabo. Its a sanitation issue, and a public safety issue. Brownies in the sand would be an example of a sanitation issue.

Sabo cautions dog owners to be aware that dogs often act differently in forest areas.

People will say to us, my dog is the friendliest dog, but dogs are territorial and if their sense of security feels threatened, they may react differently than they would at home. We see that on the trails a lot, explained Sabo.

Nancy Grimes of Bend tells an example of this. Last September she was walking her Jack Russell terrier at Tumalo Falls, when an unleashed pit bull came up the trail.

The owner said, Dont worry, Angel is nice and very friendly, and the next thing I knew that pit bull had Astro, my dog, in her mouth and was shaking him, said Grimes, who eventually reported the incident to the police. The owner was very sorry, and kept saying, Shes never done this before. Its an uphill battle to do the right thing, because you dont want it to happen to someone else, but you sympathize with the other owner, because you know how much they love their dog.

Grimes dog survived its attack, but it required several stitches to repair the wounds, and a $1,000 veterinarian bill.

Grimes says that incident still terrifies her.

Sabo also points out that dog restrictions may be in place because of the natural habitat of a certain area.

In some areas, if dogs are off leash there is harassment of wildlife, and that stresses the environment, said Sabo. The rules are also there to protect dogs. If a dog gets lost, it often becomes coyote or cougar bait.

If youre found in violation of the forest service dog ordinances, Sabo said a ticket can run you anywhere from $50 to $200.

People who are unsure of what the dog ordinance is in a certain forest service area, Sabo said, can call the Fort Rock Ranger station (383-4795) for more information.

Because the rules change for winter in certain forest service areas, dog owners need to read the signage as well.

Winter dog closure recently went out of effect for the high use areas of Meisner, Swampy, Dutchman Flat and Vista Butte sno-parks.

Really, were just asking people for their cooperation, said Sabo. If you think were restrictive, the National Park Service bans all dogs from its parks.

Solutions

So whats a dog owner to do, if his or her dog likes to run off leash?

The obvious answer is the dog parks.

But the problem, according to veterinarian LaPaugh, is that there arent enough dog parks in the city to accommodate all the dogs.

If youre going to have such restrictive dog-leash laws, then you need to provide some area where dogs can go, and the city hasnt done that yet, said LaPaugh. Big Sky on the east side is really the only one. There is a small one on the west side, but that one is just a mud pit now. The leash laws are appropriate, if youre going to have dog parks.

Feeling as if shes in a Catch-22 bind, LaPaugh says that on the one hand, people here are trying to raise friendly, non-aggressive dogs, but its hard for dogs to socialize when they have no place to go.

Dogs who are socialized have better access, explained LaPaugh. Before 20 weeks, the dogs brain needs to make the connections for socialization; its very important.

Because of the lack of dog parks, Anne Bergin, a runner, feels many dog owners use Shevlin Park as one, which has caused her some problems while running on the trails.

I was just running the other day at Shevlin and this dog sees me and starts taking off after me, nipping at my heels, and the dog owner says to me stop running, shes a herding dog, stop running, recalled Bergin, who says she was incensed by the incident. You would never let your own children run after people and jump on them, so why would you let your dog do that?

Bergin said this isnt the first time shes been bitten by unleashed dogs in the park. Her husband, David Bergin, has also had some run-ins with dogs there as well.

Im also scared, because sometimes you come up behind an owner and an unleashed dog and they get spooked. Well, you never know how that dog is going to respond, said Bergin, who is a dog owner.

Bends Capt. Maniscalco reports that for every complaint he gets from a dog owner about the dog ordinances, he gets two complaints from other people about dogs either out of control or off leash.

To both sides, he says his department is doing as much as it can.

Maniscalco agrees there are no easy solutions. He says there should be more dog parks, but he says Bend is growing so rapidly that voters also call for more people parks, and there simply isnt enough money for everything.

The only real immediate solution Maniscalco sees is having responsible dog owners.

This city is getting bigger, and the majority of the people here have a dog, or even two dogs. Advocates of dogs off-leash are usually the responsible people, and they cant fathom another dog owner not being like them, said Maniscalco.

Look, if you obey the leash laws, it makes Bend a more livable place for everyone. Id say, use common courtesy.