I recently stayed with my parents in the Hollywood Hills and went running along horse trails in Griffith Park nearby, visiting the Griffith Observatory and the Hollywood sign above the busy city below. The spring is giving way to hotter summer temperatures, and green is turning brownish.  Consistent with southern California’s desert landscape, I saw many scampering lizards and a snake who made his way calmly across a dusty horse trail. 

People walked their dogs in the park and carried plastic bags to collect their canine’s droppings, but there was no such accommodation for droppings left by horses.  Horses are used for riding in the park and sometimes categorized as “livestock”, and this leads to less regulation and responsibility than with companion animals.  My mulling over the differences between how we treat dogs’ and horses’ waste took a whole new twist when I returned to my parents’ house and saw that a wild coyote left his mark on the front walkway.

Gene