Visitor says she was confronted over her dog on walking path

To the Editor:

On my first day visiting, I took my dog for a walk on the Black Lake Walking Path. My dog is a 35-pound Beagle and just likes to sniff grass on a walk. 

I saw three groups of people with dogs coming off the path and no visible “No Dogs Allowed” signs. 

As I was walking, a man said, “This is a human path, no dogs.” I told him that I just arrived the day before and did not know and didn’t see any signs. I encountered two more people and they also told me that no dogs were allowed. After the third angry person approached me, I started to cry and told them again that I didn’t know.

I would have exited the path earlier but realized that I needed to cross a four-lane road to get back to the Lake Miona Recreation Center parking lot. I finally did that to avoid more confrontations. I chose to walk on the grass to avoid the golf cart traffic; however, I heard one man say, “I would like to hit her butt.”

This was my first day experience and instilled a lasting and final impression.

Please post larger “No Dogs Allowed” signs on this path, so no one else is subjected to verbal abuse.

Martha Finch
Hilton Head, S.C.