A recent story by The Associated Press erroneously reported that New York was the safest city in the nation for mail carriers when it comes to dog bites (67 city mail carriers actually got bit last year—the correct U.S. Postal Service data revealed—as opposed to the big fat zero originally publicized). So why all the angry canines when DogFriendly.com has found so many reasons for them to be happy here? Last week, the leading pet travel website ranked New York City number three on its fifth annual top-10 list of dog-friendly vacation spots in the U.S. and Canada—as if there weren’t enough tourists clogging up Soho and Times Square. Among the dog-friendly amenities cited on the list are New York’s various pet taxi services; the many “famous stores and department stores” in Manhattan that allow leashed dogs; and the city’s 30 off-leash parks, including Prospect Park in Brooklyn, which has a man-made doggie swimming pond. The list also notes that dogs are welcome in several of New York’s “most fashionable” luxury hotels, like the Regency and Soho Grand. Strangely, it makes no mention of the Tompkins Square Dog Run. But hey, just like their owners, local dogs need something to make them feel hipper than everyone else.
