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Pet Owners Eager for Space Where Their Dogs Can Run Free: Effort Launched to Secure Place for Off-Leash Park

Posted on: Wednesday, 22 March 2006, 12:00 CST

By Katherine Tam, The Olympian, Olympia, Wash.

Mar. 22--OLYMPIA -- Kathy Evans takes her dachshund and boxer to a wooded area near the state Department of Ecology, where she lets them off their leashes. It's not an official off-leash park, but Evans and others take their pets there because it's one of the few places they can go without getting ticketed. "The socializing part is a big thing for dogs," she said. "They're just like kids who have to go out and expend energy." Evans and about 40 other residents, who call themselves The Rover Group, are calling for an off-leash dog park in Olympia. The city doesn't have the money right now to build a dog park; revenue for the next 10 years from the 2004 parks and sidewalks measure is earmarked to buy land for other parks, said Jonathon Turlove, parks planner. But officials are willing to study the idea to see what's possible. The Rover Group has volunteered to survey cities with dog parks. A feasibility study detailing park sizes, features and how much a park would cost to maintain will be complete by year's end. A workshop Thursday will collect public ideas on a local dog park. Thurston County is home to 11,768 licensed dogs, said Susanne Beauregard, director of Animal Services. But experts in the field estimate the number of licenses represents one-third of the actual dog population, meaning there are probably 35,000 dogs in the county, she said. The idea of an off-leash venue isn't new. In 1998, a separate group called the Lacey-Olympia-Tumwater Area Dogs Off Leash proposed using the old city dump behind Top Food & Drug. It never came to pass, but every year people call the city to propose a dog park again, Turlove said. There is no official off-leash site in the county, but people let their dogs run free in a number of grassy areas, and the property owners don't complain. Those sites get crowded, with about 25 dogs an hour at certain times of the day, Evans said.

Some provide plastic bag stations for pet feces. But it's not the same as a sanctioned park. "They're unofficial, and they could stop at any time," Evans said. "Ecology and the (Lacey) community center have been very gracious, but this would be an official, legal place to go." Olympia resident Lynn Scroggins added: "It would be a place where they can run free, sniff the grass, do the things that dogs do. It shouldn't require a lot of city maintenance if there's an adequate advocacy group and people are self-monitoring." Supporters and officials acknowledge there are some challenges to getting a park started. There might be public concern about dog fights and pet feces. There's the intensive use that can tear up the grass or turf, making it muddy in the winter. Some cities use a system similar to crop rotation, where one grassy area lies fallow and allowed to heal while another section is used. The closest off-leash site is in Lakewood. Seattle, Everett and Vancouver are among nearby cities with multiple off-leash parks of all sizes. Redmond's popular Marymoor Park, which spans about 300 acres, has 40 acres set aside for dogs. The parks usually are fenced. Some are on land bought for a dog park. Others are on converted property, such as an old ranch. Or they're in existing parks where officials have designated off-leash hours, such as Portland. Locally, a stand-alone off-leash park is preferable, said Chuck Denney, Tumwater's parks director. It would keep dogs separate from other park users who might not like dogs. "It would take away the fear factor," Denney said. At Tumwater's Pioneer Park, dogs are sometimes seen running off-leash, even though it's against the rules and punishable by a $47 ticket. Officials get complaints from pet owners who want their dogs to run free and parents who worry about dogs loose near their children, he said. There have been no reported incidents between dogs and children. Tumwater plans to review the idea when it updates its parks plan this year, but Denney said it has not been a top priority.

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Source: The Olympian, Olympia, Wash.

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