Dog Parks Among the Top Amenities
A nice story from Lexington, KY:
Dog parks are now one of the top 10 most utilized amenities in Lexington’s parks and are one of the top 10 most requested features, according to a parks survey conducted last year, Gorton said.
The dog parks are in great demand and are in constant use year-round, Cowen said. “I’m always amazed when I go to all of our dog parks that there ever were naysayers that this would not work, that it was a waste of time and resources.”
Full article here.
Liability concerns
Many people have brought up legal liability for MayDOG and/or the town as concerns when discussing the establishment of an OLRA on Maynard town land. The following statute governs dog owner liability issues in Massachusetts:
THE GENERAL LAWS OF MASSACHUSETTS, PART I. ADMINISTRATION OF THE GOVERNMENT, TITLE XX. PUBLIC SAFETY AND GOOD ORDER
CHAPTER 140. LICENSES
DOGS
Chapter 140: Section 155. Liability for damage caused by dog; minors; presumption and burden of proof
Section 155. If any dog shall do any damage to either the body or property of any person, the owner or keeper, or if the owner or keeper be a minor, the parent or guardian of such minor, shall be liable for such damage, unless such damage shall have been occasioned to the body or property of a person who, at the time such damage was sustained, was committing a trespass or other tort, or was teasing, tormenting or abusing such dog. If a minor, on whose behalf an action under this section is brought, is under seven years of age at the time the damage was done, it shall be presumed that such minor was not committing a trespass or other tort, or teasing, tormenting or abusing such dog, and the burden of proof thereof shall be upon the defendant in such action.
It’s also important to note that studies conducted in California have shown that, in two communities with equally sized dog populations, the community without an OLRA reported the larger number of dog bites. In fact, communities with OLRAs typically have dog-bite rates that are less than 60% of the national average!
Dog Park Behavior
Here’s a great article on dog park behavior from a DOG in Lansing, MI:
Doggie hierarchies: Remember that, by nature, dogs tend to create hierarchies in social situations. At the dog park, these hierarchies change with every new dog and every new day. Some days you are up and some days you are down. Dogs know this, so do not be overly protective. Sometimes it can be hard to tell the difference between normal social behaviors and something more serious or potentially problematic. But if your pooch keeps going back for more, it is probably play.
Maynard Leash Law
Here’s the actual text of the Maynard by-laws regarding leashes and having dogs under control:
Section 8: No person shall permit a dog by under their direct control to be off the premises of the owner or person responsible between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. unless the dog is under the full and direct control of the owner or responsible person and kept on a safe and adequate leash. The owner of the dog or person responsible who violates this By-law shall, after receiving a written warning as to a violation of this section be punished for a subsequent offense by a penalty of ten dollars ($10) for the first offense, twenty-five dollars ($25) for the second offense and fifty dollars ($50) for each subsequent offense. The person responsible for the control of any dog shall be deemed to be a person who has willingly assumed the control of the dog from its owner or, in the alternative, the licensed owner of the dog.
Section 9: Leash Law
No owner of any dog shall permit such dog to run at large at any time. The provisions of this section shall not be intended to apply to dogs participating in any dog show, nor to “seeing-eye” dogs properly trained to assist blind persons for the purpose of aiding them in going from place to place, nor to any dogs properly trained and under the control of and aiding the deaf, nor to any dogs being trained or actually being used for hunting purposes while such dogs are actively engaged in hunting activity on property permitting such activity.
Nothing contained in the foregoing paragraph shall prevent the Board of Selectmen from passing any orders authorized by the Massachusetts General Law at such times as they shall deem necessary to safeguard the public.
Every owner of a dog shall exercise proper care and control of their dog so as to prevent said dog from becoming a public nuisance.
Notes - September 30, 2008
MayDOG Meeting Notes
Tuesday, September 30, 2008, 7pm, Maynard Public Library
Attendees: Lisa Lines (chair), Jed Winer (taking notes), Deb Muise, Tracey & David Cox, Fran & Cheryl King, Jim Earley, Paul Alloway, Fred Levy, Selma Burrows, Catherine Phillips, Paul Roy, Jean Landes, Mark Donahue, Liz Llewellyn, Joannie Gray, Mary McCarthy, Peg Brown, Donna L. Smith, Bill & Amy Shew, Eric Zeller
1. Welcome
Attendees introduced themselves and told a little about their dogs and why they were there
2. Introduction to MayDOG
- Structure of the group — incorporated as a nonprofit and registered as a charity with the state of Massachusetts
- MayDOG board (openings available!) — up to 7 board members may be needed, please contact Lisa if interested in serving
- Membership drive
- Membership dues will help support mission of promoting responsible dog ownership and off-leash recreation in Maynard and surrounding communities
- Membership dues paid now will be good through the end of 2009
- Membership dues will be $25/individual, $35/family, $50/business, $100/sustaining
- Donors of $250 or more will be permanently recognized at the eventual location of the park and/or on the website
- Discounts for dues-paying members offered by “Friends of MayDOG” (business members/supporters)
- Memberships and donations can be paid online by credit card or check
- We currently have an announce-only mailing list — does not seem to be a need for a discussion list/group at present
- Website features:
- You can sign up to receive email notifications of new posts
- You can also get new posts by RSS
- You can sign up for our mailing list
- You can link to our online petition
4. Status of petition drive
- Currently have more than 250 signatures — goal is 500 or more (that is the approximate number of dog licenses issued by Maynard last year) — shows a lot of support to be halfway to goal in less than a month!
- Have been collecting signatures on paper at the Farmers’ market, and Eric has collected some around town
- Eric volunteered to coordinate off-line petition signature gathering — call/email him for more info (ezab8, 978-461-2835)
- Talking points when discussing the idea with residents and others
- Unused space — 13 acres
- Could raise property values — something that relocators look for
- Could bring more visitors/shoppers to town from other areas
- For the dog owners, not the dogs
- Especially good for people with less mobility who have a hard time exercising their dogs
- Community building, gathering spot, get to know neighbors, make connections
- Nice amenity
- Acton/Stow gathering spots are not official and the option to take dogs there on or off-leash could be taken away anytime
- Good to have a specific place for dog owners to take their dogs where they won’t bother people who are afraid of/don’t like dogs
5. Discussion of site and options for recreation area
- Site is a capped landfill — a polyvinyl sheet with about a foot of dirt over that (has been settling over the past 20 years)
- Monitored by the EPA/Maynard Board of Health — no known health risks from walking around the area — some concerns about leaching into groundwater supplies, but water has not shown any problems and this would not be an issue for just walking around and using the area anyway
- Fence may need to be installed at grade if installed in the area that has the cap, since cap cannot be disturbed
- Flat area near street was never used as landfill — could town be interested in trying to sell or develop that parcel?
- Abutters include the Maynard Rod & Gun Club, apartments across street, residences several hundred yards in either direction
- Important to let people know that dog parks typically do not have a lot of noise associated with them — definitely less than a typical kid park/ball field
- Liability issues — dog owners would be responsible for the actions of their dogs
- Separate area for smaller/timid dogs
- Should be a multi-use site — this will build more support — could have a track around perimeter, something for kids?
6. Steps for accomplishing this goal
- Talk to Board of Selectmen (BoS) members informally, one-on-one — find a champion
- Get on agenda of a BoS meeting and present petition signatures and ideas (after special town meeting at the end of October)
- Conduct plenty of research beforehand
- Have a list of positives and negatives
- Have a schematic of the area and what we’d like to do
- Be open to considering other sites
- BoS would need to agree-
- Town meeting would need to amend/make exception to leash by-law for that area — 2/3 majority
- Unlikely that we could get town funds, but grants are a possibility (eg, CPA)
7. Possible next steps if approved
- Fundraising
- Calendar: ideas would take time to implement — could not do for 2009, but will be thinking ahead for 2010
- Holiday portraits
- Other event ideas: Come Fly With Me, Howl-O-Whine, May events
- Other fundraising ideas (I Love My Dog campaign, t-shirts, bandannas, bumper stickers, etc.)
- Corporate sponsorships: businesses could buy sections of the fence
- In-kind donations
- Signage (”Future Site of the ____ Dog Park”?)
- Begin using site
- Publicity
- Other uses for the site — a walking/jogging track, kids area, water feature, ornamental plantings
8. Open discussion and concerns
- Park probably would need some rules and maybe a license/tag/membership fee — need to minimize risks will have to be balanced by desire to be inclusive — other parks restrict dogs in heat and/or un-neutered dogs, require children to be over a certain age, and ban people at the first sign of their dog(s) being aggressive
- MayDOG would like to do other things in support of mission, such as getting bag stations around the downtown area and holding educational events
9. Next meeting
- No date set right now — will need to think about what makes sense in terms of keeping momentum going but not burning out early
- Website/email list will be the main channels for communicating next meeting(s)
