Medway Dog Park
One of the few fenced dog parks in Massachusetts is located about 45 minutes south of Maynard in Medway, MA. The Henry Garnsey Canine Recreation Park (named for the town’s first settler) was established in 2002 as an Eagle Scout community service project by Tim Dumas, who was 15 at the time.
Visitors to the park are required to obtain an annual permit and tag for each dog they wish to bring. The tags are free, but require that an application be filled out and sent to the Medway Animal Control Officer along with a copy of the rabies certificate for each dog and a self-addressed stamped envelope. The Medway Animal Control Officer contacts the officer in your town to make sure that your dogs don’t have a history of aggression or other complaints. Then they send you a packet containing the tags, a donation request form, a copy of the park rules, a schedule of fines for violating the rules, and recommended park etiquette.
The process took about 3 months in our case, mainly because the Maynard animal control officer was out on disability leave when Medway attempted to contact him. However, it’s worth going through the process if you want to take your dogs to the park, because the dog officer can and will fine anyone who does not have the appropriate tags. On the other hand, since the dog officer just makes spot checks, visitors are on the honor system for the most part.
In my opinion, this process could be used in Maynard, perhaps with the addition of requiring an annual fee of around $10 per dog for non-Maynard residents (Maynard residents would be permitted to use our park without paying any additional fee other than our annual dog license fee).
