Maria Hassan often brings her large dog into the small dog side of the Winnipeg Avenue off-leash dog park because of poor conditions and lack of space on the big dog side.
“The big side is really gross,” she said. “It’s muddy; it’s dirty. It’s small for large dogs that need to run.”
Anne Garwood-Maxwell, also a big dog owner, agrees with Hassan.
“This side of the park is much smaller than the other side and it’s less kept up,” she said, adding that she likes to see the larger dogs in the bigger space or make the spaces equal in size.
Garwood-Maxwell said she’ll often ask the small dog owners if they mind her bringing her larger dog to their side and they usually don’t have a problem with it.
The issue of size-restriction at the dog park is under scrutiny after a large dog, believed to be a pit bull-mix, in the small dog area attacked and killed a chihuahua-mix Tuesday afternoon.
Small dog owners have said that large dogs in their area is a frequent occurrence, but large dog owners are saying that’s because their area is unsuitable.
City parks manager Paul Fayrick said a dog park committee meeting is approaching where they’ll be discussing what’s happened and look at what improvements can be made at the park.
“We’ve had complaints earlier this year about the mud,” Fayrick said. “It’s a fairly small area, especially for the large dogs and it was chewed up a little bit.”
The city brought sand into the park earlier in the year to stop mud from forming in the park, but the heavy use of the park has brought it back. Fayrick said they’ll be bringing another load of sand to the park within the week before winter hits.
As for the size discrepancies, the park was originally designed as one large space for small, senior and handicapped dogs but after based on advice from the off-leash dog park committee they sectioned off an area for big dogs, Fayrick said.
If the small dog owners do have issue with the larger dogs in their area and it’s too muddy, Fayrick said there is another off-leash park on Carrick Street off of Central Avenue that is for dogs of all sizes.
“There is another dog park very close to here where they could go and take their large dogs,” he said. Next summer another dog park without size restrictions will be built in Westfort. And a fourth park is in the works for Current River.
“The big side is really gross,” she said. “It’s muddy; it’s dirty. It’s small for large dogs that need to run.”
Anne Garwood-Maxwell, also a big dog owner, agrees with Hassan.
“This side of the park is much smaller than the other side and it’s less kept up,” she said, adding that she likes to see the larger dogs in the bigger space or make the spaces equal in size.
Garwood-Maxwell said she’ll often ask the small dog owners if they mind her bringing her larger dog to their side and they usually don’t have a problem with it.
The issue of size-restriction at the dog park is under scrutiny after a large dog, believed to be a pit bull-mix, in the small dog area attacked and killed a chihuahua-mix Tuesday afternoon.
Small dog owners have said that large dogs in their area is a frequent occurrence, but large dog owners are saying that’s because their area is unsuitable.
City parks manager Paul Fayrick said a dog park committee meeting is approaching where they’ll be discussing what’s happened and look at what improvements can be made at the park.
“We’ve had complaints earlier this year about the mud,” Fayrick said. “It’s a fairly small area, especially for the large dogs and it was chewed up a little bit.”
The city brought sand into the park earlier in the year to stop mud from forming in the park, but the heavy use of the park has brought it back. Fayrick said they’ll be bringing another load of sand to the park within the week before winter hits.
As for the size discrepancies, the park was originally designed as one large space for small, senior and handicapped dogs but after based on advice from the off-leash dog park committee they sectioned off an area for big dogs, Fayrick said.
If the small dog owners do have issue with the larger dogs in their area and it’s too muddy, Fayrick said there is another off-leash park on Carrick Street off of Central Avenue that is for dogs of all sizes.
“There is another dog park very close to here where they could go and take their large dogs,” he said. Next summer another dog park without size restrictions will be built in Westfort. And a fourth park is in the works for Current River.
