Submitted by Sandra Cepin
I would like to chime in to the ongoing discussion about a trial period for off-leash time for dogs at local parks.
When my family adopted a puppy about a year and a half ago, I came across some people in the neighborhood who also adopted around the same time. They arranged play dates at Vetter park and invited me to join so the puppies could socialize with each other – a very important aspect of training to ensure a well-behaved dog. People in the neighborhood began to notice our presence and the group of dogs at the park slowly grew, especially given that Vetter is the only local dog-friendly park in Coronado, in addition to the Cays. Families with children even came out to join us despite not having a dog!
This park time turned into not only an opportunity for the dogs to socialize, but an opportunity to get to know an amazing group of people. We have had several gatherings to celebrate different occasions outside our time in the park. I was born and raised in Coronado and attended elementary, middle and high school here. I have always appreciated the sense of community that exists here, but I have learned to appreciate it so much more in the past year and a half after meeting these people and interacting with local neighbors who I may have never come across if it weren’t for our mutual love for dogs.
Every person I have met is respectful and considerate of others. In all the time I have spent at the park, I have never seen the dogs attack each other, never seen the dogs attack a person, and never witnessed anything that I would consider a disturbance to the neighborhood. And this includes the times I have driven out to the Cays, where dogs are allowed to run freely off-leash. Sadly, some complaints from the neighborhood have led the group to stop going to Vetter park.
I understand that not everyone feels the same way about dogs, and I respect that everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But I hope that we can come to an agreement in which everyone in the community’s desires can be considered. All we ask is that the city consider 1-2 hours in the morning and evening, before and after work, at the local parks so dogs can run around, exhaust their energy, and socialize with each other. By expanding more parks to be dog-friendly and allocating these off-leash time slots at more than one park, it could prevent the gathering of multiple dogs in one park during that given time. This would still leave parks without dogs off-leash for 7-9 hours a day, and above all, would maintain the sense of community that has made me so proud to be able to call Coronado my home.
 Sandra Cepin
