It seems that the traditional fire hydrant is no longer sufficient for good ol' Fido. Much to his relief, he will now get to avail himself of an elaborate facility where he can choose from among an assortment of concrete poles, trees, and shrubs. What's more, he will be able to parade his talents in front of his proud owner who can view the whole scene from a box seat located a few feet from center stage.
Montreal, mind you, is the same city that recently built an entire subway system without so much as a single public restroom. Even worse, Montreal, for the past several years has been systematically eliminating public restrooms -- for humans -- from its public parks.
So what's really going on in Montreal? Who's behind this fiasco and how can they possibly justify it? Animal rights activists? Spendthrift politicians eager to solve another crisis? Followers of Jim and Tammy Bakker who long for the air conditioned doghouse days? Or -- and this is my theory -- America's National Endowment for the Arts which showered several several thousand tax dollars last year on a known porn star to do on stage in New York what dogs will soon be able to do in Montreal. In other words, NEA-funded "artists" and Montreal's dogs have more in common than first meets the eye: they both produce the same thing at taxpayers' expense.
DGH