Vallone in dog owners’ doghouse

About a dozen dog-lovers unleashed their anger at City Councilmember Peter Vallone, Jr. recently, in front of his district office in Astoria, protesting his proposed law against “tethering,” or restraining any dog to a fixed object outdoors for more than three hours in a 12-hour period.
The Dog Federation of New York (DFNY) staked out the Kindred Building, at 22-45 31st Street in Astoria on Saturday, March 31 to get petitioners against the move and spread informational papers.
They say Vallone’s proposals, including his other plan to outlaw “pit bulls,” a loosely defined term which covers several kinds of terrier, will “discriminate against innocent dogs and dog owners.” The building also houses the Law offices of Vallone and Vallone, headed by former Council Speaker Peter F. Vallone, Sr. who successfully fought for stronger spay/neutering laws in 2001.
Mahlon Goer, a founding member of DFNY and “longtime Flushing resident” who now lives upstate, thinks Vallone is all wet. “Proposals like Vallone’s are an assault on caring dog owners,” she said. “People who want to pass breed-specific bans are misquoting the facts,” according to Goer, who admits to keeping her dog leashed for more than three hours, while she works in her garden.
Vallone introduced the anti-tethering bill in early March. “I worked closely with recognized animal rights groups including the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) on the bill to make it fair to dogs and owners,” Vallone says. “Nobody’s ever heard of these people,” he said.
Dog owners often consider their animals to be like family members. Longtime Baysider Julie Paladino has a Labrador-terrier mix named Bacon. Since moving to Westbury, L.I. six months ago, she has “fostered” three pit bulls, and believes that bad owners are the real problem.
Paladino loves Bacon, “He’s the greatest dog ever,” she says, holding up a picture of him sitting behind the wheel of her car, adding, “He drives,” with a mischievous smile.
When asked his opinion of the Vallone proposal, local resident Ken Asano said, “He’s ridiculous.” Asano, who was walking Bowser, his American Staffordshire terrier, in Astoria Park added, “I don’t think he knows anything about pit bulls. I don’t think he knows anything about dogs in general.” Asano recounted that he “got Bowser from the pound.” “He’s a sweetheart.” Asano said.
Vallone conceded that the pit-bull ban is as good as dead, because, “The State caved-in to special interests on breed laws.” However, he is pushing ahead with the ban on tethering, which could pound repeated violators with a $500 fine, and three months behind bars. “I’m an animal rights guy,” says Vallone, “it was animal rights activists who first came to me with the idea.”