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Friday, February 5, 2010

City Parks and Dogs Off Leash

You've likely seen the issue of allowing dogs off leash in city parks in the news. There is a post below (see older posts) , "leash free dog park" (Nov 16, 2009) from a Ward 33 group advocating / requesting permit for an off leash area in local Ward 33 parks (email: area33@live.com).

(On the W33AC Election night, this group reported on its permit application. We will might anticipate our ward councillor to initiate a community consultation meeting on this contentious matter.)

An article by Dave Nickle in the Mirror (Feb 4, 2010) provides an update on what's happening downtown where our city councillors hang out.
http://www.insidetoronto.com/news/cityhall/article/546450--dog-park-policy-gets-overhaul

"The revised people, dogs and parks strategy is intended to streamline the decision-making procedures and take into ways to finance the construction of dog parks... The city's parks department has a more systematic approach, which city staff hope will make the process less political. The policy comes up with rules to limit off-leash areas in parks and parkettes that are two acres or less... And no longer will an off-leash area require that a local dog owner Association be established to police and manage the area."

So far there are no off leash dog area in our local parks although some parks in the North District/North York have off leash areas. Apparently, it costs $150,000 to modify (fence an area, etc) to provide an off leash area.

Given the condition of parks in our ward, many might think this money would be better spent on improving our local parks and street environments instead of providing a place to exercise dogs.

For parks with off leash areas go to this city link:
http://www.toronto.ca/parks/dogsoffleash_list.htm

On this page, you can also link to :
Proposed sites for off-leash areas.
Denied Applications for Off-Leash Area

People, Dogs and Parks Strategy main page


City bylaws requires all dogs and cats in the city to have a license (cost varies) and carry a tag:
http://www.toronto.ca/animal_services/licensing.htm

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