Rutherford, NJ is known as the Borough of Trees. It's a beautiful, suburban town situated in southern Bergen County, minutes of New York City. It's a wonderful, safe place to live with amazing restaurants, family-friendly activities, some of the best schools in the state, a local farmer's market, and lots of beautiful public parks.

Unfortunately, Rutherford has an ordinance that prohibits anyone from bringing pets into any public park in the borough. As residents of Rutherford, we feel that this is an antiquated policy that is clearly hostile to the many tax-paying residents of the borough who would love to enjoy sunny weekends in the park with their family pets. 

Rutherford has a major NJ transit station right in town, making it a popular hub for young, urban professionals working in Hoboken, Jersey City, and New York City. Many of these young families have companion animals and are forced to go to nearby Lyndhurst or East Rutherford to enjoy a day out with their families and their pets. We feel that Rutherford's no-pets policy in parks makes it an anomaly which does little more than inconvenience residents, so we are asking you to sign this petition which will be sent to Rutherford's Mayor, John Hipp, and the rest of the Rutherford Councilmen and Councilwomen. We hope that our combined voices will force them to reconsider this ordinance.

For reference, the local ordinance can be viewed here, under Chapter 73-3, Section A, Subsection 20: http://www.rutherford-nj.com/recreation/ordinance.asp - "[It shall be unlawful to:] Allow any animal or pet in any park, recreation area or open space."