There are people who own dogs and then there are “dog people.” There are people who keep their dogs tied up in the backyard all day with a water dish as dry as the Sahara and there are people whose dogs are beloved members of the family.

I’m the latter example in both comparisons. My dogs are just as much family as any of the bi-ped relatives. They have traveled with me, they nap with me … we’ve even shared the same water glass. What? There have been studies that dogs’ mouths are cleaner than humans.

So Haverstraw’s recent approval of a law limiting the amount of dogs hit me really hard. I whole heartedly agree with this editorial written by Editorial Page Editor Nancy Cutler.

I don’t live in Haverstraw and I only have two dogs. But I really feel for those people affected by this.

I am a good dog owner. My dogs are vaccinated and registered with my town. They do not bark incessantly and are only outside in the yard when I’m out their with them. I’ve taken them to obedience classes and I pick up poop when we go for walks. I never let them off leash when not in my house or fenced in yard. They have never escaped and are both altered.

So why—if I take the care for all the above—would it be my town’s business to limit the dogs I can have? My dogs aren’t a nuisance and if I had three more (going over Haverstraw’s limit) they wouldn’t be a nuisance either.

Are there bad dog owners out there? Sure. I see them all the time. But why punish a group of good owners for the bad? Just go after the bad!

Other than maybe—MAYBE—cutting down on some noise and poop I don’t see what Haverstraw will gain from this. And let me tell ya—four dogs can make just as much noise as eight. And one Great Dane will poop a lot more than five chihuahuas.

So I’d like to hear from people on both sides of this issue. And to Haverstraw residents who are facing giving up a dog—what are you going to do?

What would I do?

I’d move.