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Sarah and I had a big weekend, Sarah was to run in a duathalon at Moss Park just outside of Orlando on Saturday…so Friday night we load up and head for the hotel. We brought Bailey, even though it was not a pet-friendly hotel. but we were going to be in the hotel all of 6.5 hours so we took the chance. Bailey isn’t a barker and we didn’t check in until 10:30 so it wasn’t a problem.

We wake up Saturday morning at 4:45 am to get ready for Sarah’s race. She had to check in at 6 so we wanted to make sure we’d be good. We load Bailey in the back of the Escape and we are off for the park…now this is a public park right? You would expect that dogs or pets are allowed as long as they are leashed and you clean up after them right? Well that’s what we thought, so we didn’t think much of it since none of the pre-race emails or information said otherwise…

We roll into the park around 5:45 am and there is a charge to get into the park…no big deal, $1 per person that isn’t racing. However, I see a sign at the entrance that says “NO PETS ALLOWED!” Ut-oh.

Its pitch black outside and I figure we’ll just keep her in the car and she’ll be fine, she won’t bother anybody in the car and I will keep checking on her to make sure everything is good.

We roll up to the kiosk to pay and the lady is telling us where to park, our windows are tinted and it is pitch black, she couldn’t see Bailey if she tried. I pay and am pulling away when Bailey starts barking like she’s gonna kick some ass… this is where things get ridiculous…

The lady stops me and screams “YOU HAVE A DOG?!!! YOU HAVE TO LEAVE THE PARK NOW!!!” and gives me my money back… I tried to calmly reason with her. “Ma’am (cuz thats how you talk down here, sir and ma’am, plus I guess its respectful) I will not let her out of the car and she will be in her kennel the entire time. There is no possible risk of harm to anybody and no racers will step in dog shit.”

She is not satisfied with that answer and again says we have to make an immediate u-turn and exit the park. I told her that my wife is racing and I am going to go and drop her off and make sure she gets checked-in and then I will leave.

She agreed… as long as I stopped and told her I was leaving… we went and got Sarah checked-in and then I got irritated.. plus there are hundreds of people at the park, I figure this lady has forgotten about me and my vicious 10-month old puppy so I decided I was going to stay in the park and watch Sarah race… well that was all fine and good until…

10 minutes before the race starts they are doing pre-race announcements and the following is made clear by the race director:

“It has come to our attention that there is a person in the park with a dog. As much as we’d love for the dog to be in the park (race director not park lady saying this) it is against the Orange County Park rules and you must take your canine companion and exit the park immediately. You were given a grace by the lady at the entrance, don’t abuse this, we will find you.” I look at Sarah and start laughing. All the racers were laughing, what a stupid stupid rule. So I decide that I will wait and watch Sarah start the race and then I will leave the park and take Bailey for a walk somewhere around the park (not in the park). Sarah starts her race and I walk to the car fully expecting to see animal control or the police next to it. No such luck.

I get in my car and quickly exit the park. I’m a little irritated with the whole situation so I don’t stop to say anything to the lady.

Bailey and I go about 3 miles down the road and take a nice walk, then I went to the grocery store and buy her 2 gallons of water and a raw-hide. We head back to the park to watch Sarah finish the race…

I decide that I’m obviously not going to be allowed back into the park to pick her up, however, I figure I’ll park on the side of the road and just walk into the park…

I get close to the park and they have the road closed off because of the race. Sarah was a duathalon (run, bike, run) but there was also a triathalon (swim, bike, run) going on at the same time. Well, I stop and talk to the nice police officer and explain my situation… I don’t want to get a ticket for parking on the side of the road… Now, this was an Orange County Police Officer…same as the park…. and she was completely amazed that they don’t allow dogs into a park, she suggests that I try getting back into the park…um no, not gonna happen. But she says that it will be ok for me to park on the side of the road.

I drive up a mile or so and find a nice place to park…right around the same time Sarah is passing me on her bike and laughing at me walking into the park…hahahaha, funny.

I get to the park and stop at the lady to pay my $1. She asks why I am walking into the park and I explained it is because you said I couldn’t have my dog in the park… she then yelled at me for not stopping to tell her I was gone…apparently they had made several announcements…

She said I didn’t have to pay but I insisted and said consider it a donation…

What a great way to spend a morning!

The great news is that Sarah IS A CHAMPION!!! She got first place in her age group and a really cool award…I’ll post a picture of it as soon as I can.

Long story short…don’t take your dog to an Orange County, Florida park… they consider it a health risk…

This entry was posted on Monday, October 8th, 2007 at 5:34 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.