Dog Park

I would like to provide a slightly different perspective on the dog park issue. I think that a dog park in town is necessary because at the moment, many residents allow their dogs to run off leash in places where it isn't safe - such as Pioneer Park. I keep my dog on leash at all times but feel I need to be on guard walking through parks in case one such owner happens to be there as well. My dog is fearful of other dogs and I am working on training her to ignore them, but with the risk of an off-leash dog running at us it makes that very difficult at times. I believe that a designated off-leash area within town that residents can walk to would largely solve this problem. Having or not having a dog park is not going to increase or decrease the amount of waste left lying around or dog barking heard in neighbourhoods - proper training of both dogs and owners is the only thing that will achieve this goal. Enforce hours of operation to avoid late night barking. For those that leave waste lying on the ground - we dog owners need to hold each other accountable but it also is a rampant problem that isn't going to be solved simply by not having a dog park. I'd also like to note that I think the idea of using part of the fair grounds would be an ideal location that isn't too bothersome to locals and is still fairly central.