Kids: Enviro-Disaster 

Editor:

In California you can't seem to bring your dog anywhere, and everywhere you do, they must be leashed ("Unleashed," March 7). You can't tie your dog up on a street and you can't leave your dog in a car. I guess you have to leave them at home? Do you have to be a landowner to be able to let your dog run? The beach is one of the last refuges for a dog to be free in California, and of course people are going to complain.

I don't like seeing anything captive, so my dog is almost never on a leash. He is completely voice trained and the only thing he likes to chase is his ball. I will admit that I see a lot of people who don't know how to train their dogs. (If you're calling your dog and they're running the other way, you have some work to do.) But how often do you see children acting up? You want to complain about the environmental damage my dog is incurring? How about your children? My dog is my only child. My longterm girlfriend and I have no urge to reproduce ... ever. So next time you're shaking your head at me and my dog, think about your own environmental impact. The footprint my dog leaves in his entire life will fit in the heel of your child's first month of life.

Sunny Caldwell, McKinleyville