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the trust for public land dog parks 101, 2019 3
<br />already underway. This identifies the issues and
<br />concerns of individuals or other groups, and allows all
<br />players to engage in the process with their eyes fully
<br />opened.
<br />Public parks agencies should seek input from groups
<br />that may, at first glance, not seem to be allies. These
<br />can include:
<br />• PUBLIC ANIMAL MANAGEMENT AGENCIES AND
<br />SHELTERS. These agencies can be sources of infor-
<br />mation—for example about runaways or stray dogs,
<br />dogs chained in yards, dog bites, dog adoptions,
<br />and other issues—and help by identifying poten-
<br />tial allies of dog parks or the benefits of building
<br />one. They can provide programming, including
<br />adoptions, run-with-a-dog programs, onsite health
<br />clinics, obedience classes, licensing, and vacci-
<br />nations. (All of these efforts can go a long way
<br />in addressing issues that often come up in news
<br />reports, including sick dogs, misbehaving dogs, or
<br />conflicts with dog owners.)
<br />• COMMUNITY-BASED DOG-ADVOCACY GROUPS. These
<br />groups are often breed-specific or rescue-oriented.
<br />Community and other friends groups can be crit-
<br />ical to the success of a dog park. In fact, a number
<br />of public park agencies require a friends group to
<br />help maintain and manage the dog park, or even
<br />to raise money for construction, maintenance, or
<br />improvements. More than any other partner, these
<br />groups, made-up mostly of volunteers, assume a
<br />strong ownership role in the park, helping to main-
<br />tain standards of behavior and cleanliness, keeping
<br />“eyes on the park,” and managing community and
<br />park-agency issues on a regular basis.
<br />• NONPROFITS INVOLVED IN DOG WELLBEING. These
<br />include adoption agencies, low-cost spay and
<br />spay-and-neuter clinics, animal shelters, area
<br />veterinarians, affinity groups, agility and obedience
<br />trainers, and more. Like the animal management
<br />agencies and shelters, these organizations are a
<br />great source of programming, both at the dog park
<br />and offsite, and can help educate dog owners and
<br />promote positive activation of dog parks.
<br />4. Embrace the standards.
<br />Many city parks departments have developed standards
<br />and master plans for dog parks. But even when
<br />standards and plans are in place and other dog parks
<br />are already established, it is important for groups to
<br />reach out and communicate proposals and plans for a
<br />new dog park. Although the expenses associated with
<br />community outreach, collaboration, and coalition
<br />building can seem high, these investments are
<br />essential to establishing and maintaining a successful
<br />dog park. We’ve provided a case study below to show
<br />how.
<br />Case Study: RUFF and the DeFillipo
<br />playground and dog park in the North
<br />End, Boston.
<br />RUFF (Responsible Urbanites for Fido) began in
<br />response to increased complaints about dogs and dog
<br />owners in the North End neighborhood of Boston.
<br />The North End is a close-knit and tightly packed
<br />neighborhood that has been an Italian-American for
<br />several generations and, prior to that, was home to
<br />successive Irish Enclave and a Jewish communities,
<br />all these changes coming in the last 100 years. RUFF
<br />began to organize and help address issues related to
<br />dogs, including the use of leashes in parks, volunteer
<br />efforts to clean-up parks frequented by dogs and their
<br />owners, and raising funds to pay for Mutt Mitts and
<br />other supplies.
<br />About 2015, the group began looking for public spaces
<br />to put in a pilot dog park, working closely with the
<br />Boston Parks and Recreation Commission as well as
<br />local community groups. Of all of the parks in the
<br />neighborhood, they ended up with what they thought
<br />was their last choice. The site was on multiple levels
<br />in and around the DeFlippo Playground. The park
<br />has historically been known as “Gassy,” from the
<br />days when a giant aboveground gas tank stood in the
<br />middle of the neighborhood. But, it was site for a dog
<br />park, and RUFF saw a great opportunity.
<br />The group raised some funds and embarked on a pilot
<br />project. They purchased fencing for the site and had it
<br />installed, complete with gates that had to be manually
<br />locked and unlocked daily. To do this, they rotated
<br />through volunteers for the first few months. With a
<br />little fundraising, they installed automatic gates that
<br />unlocked in the morning and locked automatically
<br />at closing.
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