Backlash over French bulldog meetup leads to ‘physical threats’
A gaggle of adorable Frenchies romping in a city park would seem to be the least controversial issue NYC is facing at the moment — but some Manhattanites are barking mad.
A popular French bulldog meetup at Carl Schurz Park on the Upper East Side has become a point of canine contention due to complaints that the weekly gathering, known on Instagram as Frenchies of UES, makes the dog run inhospitable to other pooches.
Detractors can’t stand the hour-long puppy playdate, which usually take place on Sundays between East 84th and East 90th streets. In fact, they even started a protest page called Stop the Meetups, also on Instagram, which currently has more than 200 followers.
The drama hit the woof on Tuesday afternoon when Kalhan Rosenblatt — an internet culture reporter with NBC who takes her French bulldog Nacho to the park — chronicled the fight in a Twitter thread. She called out the opposition, saying it’s “a wild amount of energy to devote to people who just want to meet up once a week!”
The meetups, she said, are organized by a lone French bulldog owner who “posts meeting dates/times and lets us know if it’s too hot or whatever,” Rosenblatt tweeted. “Apparently, this infuriated someone who owns a non-Frenchy and launched a STOP THE MEETUPS account.”
Rosenblatt defended the meetups as “honestly amazing, and everyone always has a great time,” saying that “there’s usually 15 to 20 French bulldogs each Sunday morning at the park.”
But for those involved with Stop the Meetups, these Frenchie fests are a whole lot of doggone trouble.
In their first post, which came on June 30, they claimed, “The dogs are all over the 25lb limit for the run, and other breeds are not able to use it, which is against NYC Parks rules … Dogs from all over the city, including Chelsea, Brooklyn, even as far as NJ, are regularly invited to and coming to these meetups.” (According to the American Kennel Club, the breed should not weigh more than 28 pounds, but some pups may be more portly.)
“The run is too small for this!” the critic continued.
Stop the Meetups also contends that “there are many fights, which means the dogs are then put on leashes inside the run, which is against the rules, and puts the leashed dogs at a disadvantage if attacked. It also doesn’t allow for owners to properly keep track of their dogs!”
In a more recent post from July 10, Stop the Meetups also alleged that the Frenchie-philes are discriminatory. “Many people reported that they got weird looks from the host … when they entered without a frenchie,” they wrote. (In her Twitter thread, Rosenblatt noted that all small dogs are welcome at the meetups and many types of mutts attend.)
Things have even gotten personal, with Stop the Meetups attesting that “The owner of the frenchies of UES account is rude … [and] she ‘holds court and acts very holier than thou.’”
But both sides — who’ve been growling at each other for the better part of a month — can agree that in the past few days, things have gone to the dogs.
The creator of Stop the Meetups told The Post they will “be deleting the account due to the amount of physical threats” they have received now that the story has gone public. The two parties agreed to speak privately and in person, the Stop the Meetups creator said in an Instagram caption posted Wednesday. They have since written a farewell post saying they’ll delete the page this weekend.
Although Frenchies of UES did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment, the Frenchies of UES account also posted about “harassment online” she had received.
“I am disheartened by the bullying I see online towards this page and our Frenchie Fam,” she wrote on Instagram. “With all the unrest and chaos going on in the world right now, we should be celebrating the little moments of joy such as these meetups rather than adding another point of contention between people and the community.”
Read the full article Here
