Op-Ed Criticizes Dog Owners' Use of Public Spaces in Chicago

A typical complaint of city-dwellers is a lack of space to run and walk their dogs, but there is another side of the story: that of the city dweller constantly put off by the site of urinating and defecating dogs in public.

An example of Cleaver's exasperation:

The Aqua, at 225 N. Columbus Drive, is an architectural treasure, a vertical reflecting pool that overlooks Lake Shore East Park. But along the sidewalk on the northern side of the Aqua, you must skip over wet patches splotching its walls and sidewalk. Before and after working hours, the sidewalk is more wet than dry. 

Clearly the pressure to make enough public space for both humans and dogs to enjoy is a quandary yet to be solved by many cities. For instance, in West Hollywood, a controversy recently arose over a lack of space for dogs relative to a surplus in space for children.