We Need a Dog Park on Greenwood

Speech to the Grants Pass City Council, 1/18/12

  

            We need a dog park at the end of Greenwood Avenue next to the Wastewater Treatment plant, for several reasons besides the fact that I live in the area and my dog needs a nearby place to chase a ball. 

          For one thing, there are many people who walk their dogs along the paved path that winds from the end of Greenwood, past the Treatment plant, through the All Sports Park next door.  All of us would appreciate a place where we can take our dogs off-leash, to chase balls and play with other dogs.  It would allow us to let our dogs run first and do their duty in a place where doggy-do bags and trash cans are handy, keeping the path cleaner.  I notice that people clean up after their pets better in dog parks than along open paths.

          There is a large open area on both sides of the path at Greenwood that has been a weed patch for years, one that I’ve been harassing the City to maintain to something approaching compliance with code.  It’s full of puncture vine, but the first obnoxious weed to bloom is heron’s bill, the seeds of which drill themselves into dogs’ fur and ears.  Mowing but not watering has turned it into a weed patch; it would be easier to maintain as mowed and watered lawn.  If you fence it and plant good tough park grass, I pledge to pull all of the weeds which might hurt my dog.  I did just that with puncture vine inside the large dog park at Schroeder Park, along with another gentleman and perhaps others as well.  Dog owners will help you maintain their park, simply to protect their dogs.

          The end of Greenwood is also a place where bozos take their trucks around the bolsters at the beginning of the path and drive around that area, down the walking path and into the All-Sports Park.  Fencing that area for dog parks would stop them from driving around the bolsters and keep the park and path more secure.

          One of the City’s stated goals is to create more dog parks.  The only one on this side of the river is in the North end of town; the one I use at Schroeder Park is just as inconvenient, [on the South side of the river].  We need one near the river [on the north side.]  Right now, people risk a $500 fine and impoundment of the dog to let their dogs chase balls in nearby Westholm Park and the All-Sports Park.  Giving them a legal [and convenient] place to do so should increase compliance with leash laws in both parks.

Published at Yahoo Voices