PAWS founder Louise Shirey after Dog Park Workshop
The idea of an off-leash community dog park was dealt a fatal blow at a Parks and Recreation Workshop on Monday, although there may still be a site selected for use by dogs at the Animal Care Facility.
The city has two designated leash-free areas – dog beach and the Coronado Cays dog run. Neither run is fenced. Louise Shirey, PAWS founder, had been look for a place to allow dogs, especially large shelter dogs, a safe place to romp.
Three locations were under consideration: Tidelands Park (off Glorietta Blvd), Vetter Park (bounded by Jacinto Place, Cajon Place, and Guadalupe Ave), and Palm Park (bounded by Palm Ave, I Avenue, and Third Street).
Over 30 people attended and the vast majority spoke in opposition to the idea of placing a six-foot high chain-link fence around any stretch of greenery in Coronado.
“It sounds like a good idea, but as often happens what starts out as a good idea becomes a dumb idea,” said Harold Myers. While he any many others had no objection to sharing Vetter or any other park with leashed dogs, they argued that letting dogs run free would ruin it for everyone else.
While there were three proposed sites, the idea of fencing Vetter Park drew the most ire. For some time it has become a de facto leash-free park and surrounding neighbors have already felt the impact.
“I can’t take my grandkids [to Vetter Park] because dogs come up and knock them down,” Tamara Taylor said.
To solve that problem, the staff report suggested changing the municipal code to allow dogs to run off-leash in the park during specified hours. Reasoning that it “would allow this activity while preserving use by the general public, particularly children who may not want to encounter dogs running free in the park.”
This suggestion, too, was met with resistance from residents. “You don’t change a law just because people don’t obey it,” Merv Keces pointed out. “It might have been true for Prohibition, but not for this.”
Though it was not the focus of the workshop, many in attendance also spoke out to object to Lee Wells’ “commercial use” of Vetter Park for group training sessions. According to neighbors some 50 dogs are in the park off leash every other Saturday. Wells denied that so many dogs attend. She also clarified that she did not charge for the classes, so they were not a “commercial venture.” Still, comments at the workshop apparently had an impact. Following the meeting, Wells posted a notice on her website, stating that “thanks to a small group of selfish local residents, the Practice Groups and Reactive Dog group are no longer available in Coronado.”
The commission took no action on Monday. Two of its members were missing, so it postponed its vote on whether or not to recommend fencing one of the parks until its April meeting.
Given the numbers and the stridency of the opposition, it seems unlikely the commission will recommend a leash-free space for family dogs, though it may still designate one for shelter dogs. At the end of the meeting, city Recreation Director Linda Rahn indicated that she had not given up on the idea for shelter pets, saying the she would continue to explore suitable locations, as the shelter dogs’ need for leash-free socialization is more critical.
“After several months in the shelter, big dogs develop a host of behavior problems. They don’t want to walk; they get aggressive with other dogs,” PAWS’s Shirey told eCoronado.com last year. Daily walks on-leash with volunteers isn’t adequate. “They need to run,” she said. The city still appears to be exploring the possibility of addressing that need.
