SAN FRANCISCO — One supervisor calls it the political version of a pit bull attack. The mayor says grimly he'll probably solve the homeless problem first.
Often-rabid opponents face off in city parks, public meetings and on the Internet, and sometimes resort to shoving matches and name-calling.
Canine politics here can be dog-eat-dog.
In this city named after St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals, the 120,000 dogs outnumber children. And while the debates are not unique -- leash or no leash, dog parks or people parks -- San Francisco's arguments are particularly high-pitched.
The dog lobby is a political tour de force, with a network to make even the GOP proud. Most parks have pro-dog groups. The leash debate draws huge crowds at hearings, which go on forever and require overflow rooms.
Canine political action committees hold Q&A's with would-be officeholders. In the last mayoral race, candidate Matt Gonzales even inspired a group called "Mutts for Matt."
Blogs rail against "dog haters." One dog group's motto is "Speak up now or forever hold your leash!" Bumper stickers say: "I'm a dog owner and I vote."
And woe to those who want those furry wards tethered. Take Arnold Levine: He loves dogs. It's their owners he fears.
Levine, 56, who has no pets, sits on the 12-member Dog Advisory Committee, which consults with city parks officials. He's been shouted down at meetings for, as he says, "having the audacity to take a stand against people who feel their dogs should run free at every park and beach in San Francisco."
Dog owners, he says, have turned local Sunnyside Park into "a toilet." But when he suggested that they leash and clean up after their pets, he felt their wrath.
He found dog feces inside his car and on his lawn. "One woman repeatedly screamed, 'You're not human!' " he said. Finally, he sold his home and moved. Caroline Murphy, who regularly walks Laika, a beagle-terrier mix, says Sunnyside dog owners have made a big effort, circulating "petiquette" guides and holding park cleanups.
She described Levine as part of "a fringe element of very intolerant people." Officials say they feel caught in the middle.
"It's the third rail of San Francisco politics," said Supervisor Sean Elsbernd. "There is no middle ground. City officials know that if they touch the issue, they're going to get hurt."
