I am a student at City College, a Mesa resident and a dog owner.

I picked up the last issue of The Channels while I was walking my dog on campus.

It is a shame that there are people who want to ban animals from the outdoors.

It is a ridiculous claim to say that animals shouldn’t be present outside because of allergies; people who have food allergies do not expect that every cafeteria or restaurant they go is free of their particular allergen.

As a student, I want to preserve the beauty of our campus, but that should not be achieved through creating a series of bans that isolate the community. It is dog owners’ responsibility to make sure their pet is not a hazard.

This includes leashes, muzzles in extreme cases and cleaning up pet waste.

Those who do not should be individually scrutinized, since the majority of dogs on the campus do not interfere with student life.

We must not forget that this is a community college and that there is a significant portion of time that students are not present on campus that the community enjoys the prime beach front space.

-Marion Freel