Piss on him ...
HILLSBORO, OR - A fire hydrant painted as an American flag has been removed from a dog park after complaints it was disrespectful to let dogs use it for what dogs do.
The new leash-free park was named for Hondo, a police dog killed 10 years ago chasing a suspect, and the flag-painted hydrant was intended as a tribute to him. "We put a lot of effort into it," said artist Jason Ross.
However, after a photo of the hydrant appeared Sunday in The Oregonian newspaper, e-mails started arriving at the parks department.
"That gallant dog must be turning in his grave at the thought of the flag being desecrated every time a dog pees on that hydrant!" wrote Louanne Douris, a retired U.S. Foreign Service officer.
Parks officials had thought of that problem, and had put the red, white and blue hydrant on an 18-inch-high base, surrounded by "dog- unfriendly" shrubs including prickly barberry bushes.
Another hydrant was placed at ground level for the dogs' convenience.
Parks officials said there had been no reports of dogs urinating on the flag hydrant.
"I think the overall message was support for the dog park and support for honoring the police dog-the fallen police dog-but the concern (was) over the perception of a dog peeing on a hydrant painted with an American flag," said Corrine Bloomfield, the department's community resources manager. She said the city hadn't decided where to place the hydrant. Link
Why do I suspect that 'artist' Jason Ross was laughing under his breath after 'selling' this art project to the City of Hillsboro? Hillsboro is a suburb of Portland Oregon. Portland Oregon is as liberal a city as exists in the West outside of the San Francisco Bay area. If he could've put a picture of George Bush on that fire hydrant - he would've. Call it a hunch.
You know your Oregon alright. It's so nice to live outside Portland, and never be able to avoid it. It runs the whole state, and IMHO, not for the better. The liberalism could almost be stomached, but the smugness and arrogance, yikes!
Posted by: Ron | 09/26/2007 at 07:37 PM
I don't think I've heard one good thing about Oregon - and especially Portland.
A flag-painted fire hydrant as a tribute to police dogs? Not likely. Put a big biscuit out there. Or at least a statue of a dog with the seat of some guy's pants in its maw.
Posted by: Phoenix | 09/26/2007 at 08:20 PM
Today they decided to put a little fence around it.
Posted by: Jim Mcfalls | 09/28/2007 at 10:17 PM