City Asked to Establish True Off Leash Park

Monday, November 02, 2009 07:51 PM

Prince George, B.C.- The City of Prince George is being pressed to establish a true, off-leash park for dogs.

In a presentation to Council, Dr. Annie Booth says while Prince George has three areas which allow, among many other uses, “off-leash” use. It has done so on a “pilot project” basis for about six years. As a comparison, there are seven off leash dog parks in Kelowna, BC and fifteen off leash parks and three off leash beaches in Kamloops, BC.

Dr. Booth says one such site is along Domano Road. It has no fencing and off leash dogs can easily access a very busy road. Without extensive fencing, this is not a suitable site for the vast majority of dogs. Ginters Park and Moore’s Meadow are reasonably appropriate sites in terms of geography, but are not appropriate as shared use sites. True dog parks, as established by many municipalities, are primarily for off leash use. They discourage or forbid other incompatible uses.

According to Dr. Booth, bicycles, joggers, horses, and ATVs are not compatible with an off leash park because some dogs are distracted by the other users causing the dogs to bark at, or perhaps even bite at the vehicles or other users.

She submits that Ginters and Moores Meadow offer sufficient space to ensure dogs can play as well as hike without being crowded into a an overly small area (which can result in increased dog to dog aggression).

She says a mixed use policy for the two parks is not working.

Councilor Garth Frizzell says he looks forward to seeing this move forward and that was echoed by Councilor Brian Skakun who said he wishes to see some parks be opened to seniors who want to walk their dogs as they can't always get to the bigger areas where their dogs are allowed off leash.

While the off leash program is under the parks review, the analysis of the survey on designating off leash parks won't be ready until December.

Councilor Dave Wilbur says he would like to see an off leash park in every region of the City and when staff bring back more information he would like to see an outline of costs involved.

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Posted on Monday, November 02, 2009 07:51 PM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: Palopu on November 2 2009 8:19 PM

More like a designated area for dog crapping. Once they are off leash you can rest assured that no one will be picking up the crap. It would only be a matter of time before no one but the dog crappers would use the off leash area anyway.

One would hope that those people who presenlty use the school grounds for their dogs to run and crap, would go to the off leash parks, however that is not likely.

Have a nice day.

Posted by: Loki on November 2 2009 8:37 PM

NO!
Both those areas are heavily used by a great many various recreational users. Why should a majority be restricted for a minority? Have we not learned the owelypic lessons yet? (you were wondering how that would get worked in)

I am a dog owner so don't even go there.
She does her business in OUR YARD and we clean it up for proper disposal.

If an owner cannot provide for the needs of the animal, don't have the animal. IMO there are way to many pets in this and every other city. It is not appropriate to have a 100 lb dog in small city lot, and it is not appropriate to have a 50 lb dog in an apartment. Even a toy dog should be reconsidered seriously because dogs basicly only do 4 things: eat, sleep, play and excrete.

I know that I don't want to step in doo doo when I go for a walk in a nature preserve or when riding trails on my bike. Eww, gross! The only other animal I now of that drops scat on a trail is bear. Most everything else spreads it off trail in the fields.

If you live in the country, that is one thing; To have a pet in the city is a huge responsibilty that is often not fulfilled even close to adequately. It is not fair to the animal, the neighbors, or the community. It is selfish to say the least.

So if pet owners need an off leash park designated, they probably should not have that animal in that residence.

Spay and neuter every pet.
Cats are another pet issue. Too many and not enough spayed.

Posted by: Palopu on November 2 2009 8:41 PM

Good Post Loki

Posted by: supertech on November 2 2009 10:50 PM

At first glance of the headline, I thought it was in relation to husbands.

Posted by: gus on November 2 2009 11:54 PM

We have a "park" with a track in it so that those peoplw who want to run in a race four times a year can do so.

We have a "park" with an undulating concrete surface so that those people who like skate boarding can use the facility daily when the surface is dry.

We have an extra six feet or so of pavement along the sides of many arterials and even collectors so that those 438 people in the city who use bicycles to travel long distances can do so.

Off leash areas do not belong in wilderness parks such as Moore's Meadow.

Off leash areas belong in fenced areas used for dogs only, or in some rural area remote from most areas used by urban folks for other recreational uses. Taking a dog for a walks in such areas leashed and ready to pick up after the dog is fine. $500 fines for not doing so is also okay.

Chatham

http://ckdp.ca/off-leash-dog-park-fence-in-chatham-80-per-cent-complete

Guidelines for Markham, Ontario off leash parks.

http://www.markham.ca/NR/rdonlyres/90120ED8-6D90-4483-A056-202AB688C4F4/0/leashfreeguidelines.pdf

Posted by: Stompin Tom on November 3 2009 7:25 AM

I am a dog ownener, I have 2, one very large and one small. I an not in favor of off leash parks. Far to many people dont have control of their animals and dont clean up after them. Soon we have problems with people getting bite and dog fights.

What we do, summer and winter is if we want to take our dogs out we go into the country, make a picnic out of it, enjoy the animals and the outdoors.

Posted by: zoom on November 3 2009 8:08 AM

WOW a great place for those Pitbulls that are not properly trained to roam free and get all the great freedom they need. Does anyone else see a problem there. Pitbulls and little fluffy roaming around unleashed??

Posted by: interceptor on November 3 2009 8:23 AM

This is not the first off leash park in the world folks - they do work. The one in Jasper is a great break when travelling with our dogs. Its within walking distance of the ice cream shop for the kids and has a playground beside it (outside the fence).

Posted by: Stompin Tom on November 3 2009 8:38 AM

interceptor

you going to fence off Moore's Meadow?

The differance is the park you speak of is smaller, fenced off and for only one use.

What it appears people want here is a large open park area which is multi use for the dog park.

You want to ban every other user of the area so you can let your dog roam free?

Posted by: Loki on November 3 2009 9:38 AM

That off leash park in Jasper happens to be appropriate due to the fact that it is a major transportation hub and tourist area. Travelers with their pets need something like that as it is not always possible to take Fido to burn off some energy and pass the last meal. Kudos to Jasper for considering their local industry.

In this case of Ginters and moores, they are well away from where travelers are and it is intended for locals. With that in mind, see my previous post.