Every dog has their day - and for some dogs in Prince George that day is Thursday.
The city opens the first fenced off-leash dog park at Duchess Park on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. Off-leash advisory committee chairperson Kathi Travers announced the opening on Monday while presenting the committee's final report to city council.
"This is very exciting. It's the first one in the community," Travers said.
The committee called for Moore's Meadow and Ginter's Meadow to be formalized as off-leash parks.
In addition, the committee recommends that the off-leash area at Domano Boulevard be eliminated.
"We didn't feel it was safe for pets. We don't want anyone getting run over," Travers said.
The committee's report calls for the creation of off-leash areas at Duchess Park, Freeman Park, the former Gladstone school, Heather Road park and Wilson Park as top priorities.
Travers said the committee envisioned local stewardship groups made up of users would take the lead in improving the parks.
The recommendations were based on consultation with nearly 170 people who filled out surveys and 80 who took part in five open houses in June.
The report calls for the city to develop other areas as lower-priority off-leash areas in future -and makes recommendations on how the success of the off-leash program should be monitored.
The full report can be found online at http://princegeorge.ca.
Committee barking up wrong tree: Booth
UNBC professor Annie Booth said the committee's recommendations to city council don't go far enough to provide off-leash space for larger dogs.
Booth presented a 1,200-name petition to city council in Nov. 2009 which called for the creation of off-leash dog parks at Moore's Meadow and Ginter's Meadow.
"We're no better off then we were a year ago, when this committee started," Booth said.
Under the recommendations presented by the committee, Moore's and Ginter's meadows would remain multi-use parks, she said. Booth said one of those larger areas should be designated primarily for dogs.
"A lot of dogs will chase moving objects. Joggers and bikers have hundreds of areas they can use," Booth said. "At what point do my tax dollars mean less than a jogger's?"
The proposals would be sufficient to meet the needs of small dog owners, she said, but not those with larger dogs.
"The committee was made up of small dog owners," she added. "I would like them to recognize that not all users of off-leash parks were represented."
Coun. Dave Wilbur said that the multi-user approach is the right direction.
"The shared-use reality has to be a cornerstone," Wilbur said. "People have to realize that there are other people with other pursuits who are in the area."
Travers said the consultation process was extensive, and ultimately all pets must be under control in off-leash areas.
