Would you ban this face from the Square?

His name is Duffy. He’s a sweet old Golden Retriever who’s loving, gentle with kids, well-trained, always looking to make new friends. And he’s a chronic lawbreaker, it turns out. During Duffy’s 13 years living downtown, I have walked him around and through Fountain Square many, many times. Children and their parents have delighted in petting him and shaking his extended paw. For several years, our daily morning walk went right through the Square, where he became a familiar face to the folks doing WKRC’s “Good Morning Cincinnati” broadcast from the Fifth Third Tower.

It turns out that was all against city regulations, according to a story in Thursday’s Enquirer. Lydia Stec, organizer of an Opera Dogs event last weekend that ran afoul of the ban, is starting an e-mail campaign to the Fountain Square Management Web site to change it. But until the Opera Dog fight, who knew it was a rule anyway? Duffy and I must have walked past police officers on the Square dozens of times – officers who evidently were as completely unaware of this silly 1975 ban as I was. Not once did an officer slap on the pawcuffs.

Ignorance of the law may be no excuse, but what’s the excuse when a law is so ignorant? This ban does not recognize economic and social reality, which these days is that downtown Cincinnati is increasingly a place where young professionals choose to live their lives – lives that include pets. Duffy has lots of new acquaintances in the neighborhood.

And certainly, he is neater than some of the humans that use the Square. He’s never made a mess there. He’s even been useful at times, scaring away the pigeons. Most folks weighing in on our message board about this issue support allowing dogs on the Square, but some say dog owners should keep their pets in the back yard. Well, Fountain Square is part of Duffy’s back yard. Go ahead, look at that face and tell me he should be banned.