ERIC NORDLOF, Kennewick

As a bicycle rider who enjoys riding on the paths next to the Columbia River, I would like to ask dog owners who also use those paths to leash their dogs. There is only one public place in the Tri-Cities, to my knowledge, that is a "leash-free" zone (the dog park in Richland).

Because of my wobbly arthritic knees, I spend a considerable amount of time peddling my bicycle on the paths along the Columbia River and in Columbia Park. Of late, I have encountered an ever-rising tide of dog owners who apparently believe that every public place is a leash-free zone.

Being dogs, these free-range barking machines never keep their promise not to chase and annoy hapless senior citizens peddling along the public paths and through a public park. Typically, the dog owners carry the beast's uninstalled leash, as if that will signify some desire to comply with the law. Actually, all it does is demonstrate that the owner knows what the law requires and chooses to ignore it.

Please, neighbors, keep your dogs at home, keep them on a leash or take them to the dog park, and we'll all be better off for it.