A group of dog owners in the Mount Pleasant area of Vancouver have come together to push for an off-leash park space in their neighborhood.
“Right now, Mount Pleasant is a dog park desert,” said Eugenia Serrano, one of the organizers of the Dude Chilling Dogs group. “There are no dog parks within reasonable walking distance of us.”
The City of Vancouver says it aims to provide most residents with access to an off-leash dog zone within a 15-minute walk.
City maps show Mount Pleasant’s closest off-leash areas in a park are at Trout Lake or Hinge Park in Olympic Village.
“I can’t do this [walk] twice a day,” said Marty Hallat, a dog owner who lives near Dude Chilling Park and is part of the campaign.
A map of off-leash dog zones in the City of Vancouver, based on a 2017 city report. (City of Vancouver)
She says it’s frustrating trying to balance her dog’s needs with bylaws, risking a violation every time she lets her pug, Rhino, off-leash.
“There doesn’t seem to be a real solution being proposed here,” he said.
The lobby group wants to see an off-leash area on the east side of Mount Pleasant. They consider Dude Chilling Park a central location, but are open to other parks in the area.
Rhino the pug. His owner, Marty Hallat, wants an off-leash area where Rhino can play in the Mount Pleasant area. (Emma Djwa/CBC)
Conflicts over off-leash dogs have been growing in the community.
A parent committee at Mount Pleasant Elementary School posted signs around the school’s perimeter a year ago asking dog owners to keep their dogs on a leash when using the school grounds after ongoing complaints.
“There is already tension in our neighborhood,” said Serrano. “We need a solution because it’s an immediate problem now and it’s only going to get worse when there’s more density in our neighborhood.”
Little serviced area
In 2017, the city’s People, Parks and Dogs Strategy identified Mount Pleasant as the least-served neighborhood for an off-leash dog zone.
Two new off-leash areas are planned, but are in parks west of Cambie Street, targeting residents of west Mount Pleasant, Kitsilano and Fairview, which were also identified as high-need communities.
In an email to CBC News, the Vancouver Park Board says it doesn’t have the budget to meet the amount of demand for off-leash areas, but hopes to address the issue more in its capital plan starting in 2023.
For dog owners like Hallat, that’s little consolation.
She says she moved to Mount Pleasant six years ago and didn’t have a nearby dog park for Rhino.
“My dogs live 12 to 15 years, so it’s literally been half of their whole life,” she said. “How much longer do we have to wait?”
Until then, Hallat and others say they will focus on raising the issue with people considering running for park board and council seats in the fall.