Child leash advocates strain to be heard during election year

Child-leash law advocates strain to be heard during presidential election

El Segundo, Calif — About 40 families took part in a rally on Sunday in this beach community just south of Los Angeles International Airport to raise awareness for a new child-leash law proposal they hope will be on the ballot next year in California. “People have passed laws to leash pets in public places,” says Gayle Ishii. “Isn’t the safety of children just as important?” Ishii, who leads a local contingent of the statewide grass-roots movement, says that raising awareness for her cause isn’t easy during a presidential election. “Many people still know nothing about us,” she said.

If the law is passed, children up to four years of age will need to be leashed in public. Although leashing children is currently voluntary, the group hopes the law will help save young lives. “We’re right near the beach,” said one young mother. “If I turned away for a moment, my child could easily be in the water before I knew it. It happens.”