While many animal welfare groups focus on specific symptoms of animal abuse, the Ithaca Conference (“Planning for a Dog-Friendly Community”) will launch a campaign to deal with the full range of opportunities that open up to a community when they embrace the value of “dog-friendliness.”

This free public event will be held on Saturday, April 22, from 9 am to 7:15 pm, at the Holiday Inn on 222 S. Cayuga St., Ithaca, NY. A gourmet vegetarian buffet dinner and open-bar networking soirée will follow ($30 per person).

Presentations and workshops will address a variety of topics and initiatives.

• The keynote speaker is Alison Deeb, founder and president of the Morris [NJ] Aread Responsible Dog Owners’ Group, Inc. (MARDOG), a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing the canine-human bond through public off-leash dog parks. Under Deeb’s leadership, MARDOG has grown to an organization with 1,000 members, 200 sponsors (ranging from Milk Bones to Morgan Stanley), and 50 volunteers managing marketing, public relations, fundraising and community awareness initiatives. Deeb will speak on Dog Parks: Challenges and Opportunities.

• Prof. Nancy Chwiecko, School of Design, Rochester Institute of Technology, will speak on Dog-Friendly Housing Design. Chwiecko observes that “many dogs are relinquished or re-homed for destructive or nuisance behaviors that might have been prevented through careful and appropriate planning.”

• Leo Sanders, an Ithaca-based entrepreneur and sponsor of the Ithaca Conference, will speak on Dog-Based Tourism: What’s in it for You? He notes that this conference is itself the first Ithaca event that falls within the ambit of dog-based tourism, but he has suggestions for a much more comprehensive and economically productive tourism develop program.

An important objective of this conference will be to establish an international association of dog owner groups. Activists from around the United States and Canada have prepared for this step by means of a month-long “e-conference,” and many will be on hand for the April 22 Ithaca Conference.

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