No Vote on Proposed Dog Walking Pilot Legislation
Check out the six-month program that would allow dog owners to walk their animals in the park
Cleveland Heights City Council read for the first time legislation that would allow dog walking in Cain Park for six months.
The Dog Project, modeled after a program in Lakewood that culminated in the abolishment of dog prohibitions in the city's parks, needs a majority vote from council to pass.
The group is still seeking volunteers to refill dog waste bags at the parks during the trial, which would take place from April 15 to October 15.
The proposal follows a survey last year about whether dogs should be allowed in Cain Park.
Council did not vote on the legislation Monday, and the second reading will be Feb. 19.
The legislation permits dog walking but includes rules:
- Any dog must be on a leash that is extended no farther than six (6) feet and must wear a collar or harness of proper size and strength for the particular dog.
- Any dog must be under control of a person who possesses physical strength and experience sufficient to exercise reasonable restraint and control of the dog.
- Any person bringing a dog into a public park shall promptly clean up any waste from the dog and place it in provided receptacles.
- Any person bringing a dog into a public park shall confine the dog to paved pathways.
- No person shall bring a dog into a public park on any day or portion of a day during which the City Manager has posted signs prohibiting the dogs in the park or a section of the park.
- Dog-walking shall be suspended during the Cain Park Arts Festival nad other widely-attended events as determined by the City Manager.
Garry Kanter
4:21 am on Tuesday, February 5, 2013
As I read the agenda, the dogs in the park item had the words "Emergency Clause" associated with it. Sane as every other item on the agenda.
Were all those other items *also* just "fist reads"?
Richard Hollis
10:37 am on Tuesday, February 5, 2013
They ought to allow dogs in Forest Hills Park. "Proessional" Dog Walkers are allowed to walk dogs in Forest Hills Park, but the rest of us are not permitted to do that. Strange!
Ken Adams
12:30 pm on Tuesday, February 5, 2013
No dogs are allowed in forest hills park unless they are on the East Cleveland side of the park. And people still dont follow the rules. There is dog poop everywhere, dogs off leash, pit bulls in the park not following the laws. I have personally been chased by two dogs as I jogged through the park. Keep the dogs in the park in South Euclid.
Laura Matt Gagnon
11:03 am on Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Confine the dog to paved pathways - that's a bummer.. sometimes you want to just run around on the lawn with your dog - and you don't have a big enough lawn at home to do it. And maybe someday we'll be able to take our dogs somewhere and play frisbee. Until then, we'll have to drive an hour to find somewhere safe to do so.
Greg Benedetto
12:00 pm on Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Agreed that confining the dogs to the pathways is a BIG negative. There's obviously alot of fear about giving too much leeway. As it is, I could only hope that the walkers would truly pick up after their dogs, which I often find is not the case on other pathways. It's just the few that ruin it for the rest.
We need volunteers to help make this "trial" happen!!!
Don't forget about the dog park at Monticello and Belvoir for letting your dogs run free with other dogs. It's really great to see.
Richard Hollis
4:22 pm on Tuesday, February 5, 2013
The dog that was found chained to a tree and shot was found in the Cleveland Heights part of Forest Hills Park by a professional dog walker who was walking five dogs.
Richard Hollis
7:27 am on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
The headline in this post would lead one to believe that Council voted NO on the issue. That is not the case at all. Why do they need volunteers to refill the dog waste bags? The dogs and their owners should take care of that. Maybe they need volunteers to rfefill the waste bag dispensers. Because of poor proofreading, the meaning often becomes cloudy.