The board voted 35-4 to support a dog run in Torsney Park in Sunnyside, but put off a vote on a request to build a second dog run at a second location in Woodside near the intersection of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and 65th Place. Rick Duro, the co-chairman for the Sunnyside United Dog Society, or SUDS, said the run would be modest in size, only about 25 feet by 90 feet. There will be a wall on two sides and 12-foot chain link fences on the other sides.

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Most important, the dog owners will be responsible for caring for the run. This has worked well at other runs and it should work here. Owners need to know that they have to clean up after their dogs and they need to know that aggressive and dangerous dogs will not be permitted in the run.

The runs protect people who are afraid of dogs and they also protect the dogs who need a safe, enclosed place to run and play, away from traffic, bike riders and ballplayers. Hopefully, if the Sunnyside dog run is a success, the community leaders in nearby Juniper Park will reconsider their opposition to the creation of a dog run.

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