Fur flies in fights over four-leggers

6/28/2001

By Deborah Sharp, USA TODAY

	Andrew Itkoff for USA TODAY
	A pooch cools off in a pool at Dr. Paul's Dog Park in Coral Springs, Fla.

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. — On a hot spring day at Florida's first dog park, Zeus hogs the shower while Winston, a year-old English bulldog, plops into the puppy pool. A blur of fur races past, including a squat corgi pumping mightily to keep up with the rest of the pack. Unfettered by leashes, the dogs are adorable — unless you happen to be a horseback rider in Marin, Calif., a soccer mom in Alexandria, Va., or a dog park neighbor in Huntington, N.Y. They're among those feeling beleaguered by the skyrocketing popularity of "off-leash recreation areas." A growing number of cities are setting aside fenced-in sites where dogs can frolic with owners and one another. Although most raise little controversy, conflicts are rising through sheer numbers.

In 1995, the nation had 20 dog parks. Now, there are more than 500. Some are utilitarian. Others include amenities such as gazebos for owners and miniature pools for dogs. They range in size from less than an acre to more than 40 acres.

Increasingly, the sites are drawing complaints from neighbors and parkgoers, particularly parents, who say scarce open space should be set aside for people, not dogs.

"There always are controversies," says Rick Johnson, associate director of the Marin (Calif.) Humane Society and an expert on dog parks. "Oftentimes, it's very emotionally charged."

The dog park boom parallels a larger trend in a nation that's crazy for canines. About 40 million American households own dogs, according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association. That's up from 35 million a decade ago. The adage about a dog's life has never been so true. Owners coddle pets as they never have before. The American Animal Hospital Association surveyed veterinarian clients last year and found:

• More than 90% of owners give holiday or birthday gifts to pets.
• Some 37% talk to pets by phone or leave messages for them on answer machines.
• Nearly a third dress their dogs.
• Almost 80% allow their dogs to lick their faces.

  Dog parks are simply the latest twist in a trend that also supports scented dog shampoos and canine massages. Dog park supporters cite social and physical benefits for both dogs and people.

  The parks have even crept into pop culture: Eddie, the Jack Russell terrier on TV's Frasier, pops down regularly to his Seattle dog park. The show also makes light of a growing reputation for the parks as singles bars for the new millennium.

  But not everyone is laughing:

• In Huntington, N.Y., on Long Island, five residents across the street from a fenced park say they've become prisoners to dog noise. One homeowner cranks up opera music to drown out the din; another locks himself in his basement and plays guitar. Keith Morris flees as often as he can to a bookstore or grocery to escape the canine cacophony that began last September.

  "People have no idea what it's like, 14 hours a day, seven days a week, every day since this started. It's horrible, and I'm a dog lover," says Morris, 48, who has three terriers.

  Those in favor of the park say the five residents have exaggerated the noise level and want to keep publicly owned land for their use. City officials have promised to move the 1-acre park, but a suitable site has yet to be found.

  Mark Cuthperson, a member of the Huntington Town Council, admits the creation of the dog park could have been handled better. "If I had it to do over, we would have tried to build more of a consensus going in," he says.

  The fight even turned political when park foes accused Cuthperson of pandering to pro-dog forces to boost his re-election chances. "This wouldn't be the way I'd go about gaining popularity," Cuthperson says.

• In Marin County, Calif., where there are five dog parks, competition is fierce for the county's open spaces. Mountain bikers, horseback riders, hikers and dog owners all want to play, and conflicts have escalated into name-calling over the past year.

  "I went to one meeting that was so virulent on both sides, it just about made my head explode," says Vicki Kung, a dog owner in San Rafael, Calif.

  Kung, 45, launched a Web site, www.dogpark.com, in 1998. Dog owners can find everything there, from an e-shopping boutique to a list of more than 500 off-leash parks. "People who use off-leash parks are not the 'lunatic fringe' of recreational users," Kung says. "They're generally homeowners, whose tax dollars go to support recreational areas. And they want their slice of the pie."

  Kathy Spangler of the National Recreation and Park Association agrees.

  "The concept that parks are for people has always been the traditional mindset of the industry. But parks are for people and the things they care about. And pets are part of the family," says Spangler, whose association represents 6,000 local parks departments.

• Boulder, Colo., has two fenced sites in city parks and allows off-leash dogs in wild areas. But leash-free policies remain controversial.

  Boulder County recently extended a dog moratorium in Boulder's North Foothills Open Space because of concerns about migrating elk and other wildlife. A study also noted a prevalence of poop: 92 piles along a 200-yard section of trail, an average of nearly one every 6 feet. Officials estimate that Boulder's Open Spaces and Mountain Parks system draws 3.5 million people a year, plus an average of one dog for every five human visitors.

• In Scottsdale, Ariz., a battle over a dog park at Chaparral Park was cut short when officials bought adjacent land and moved the dog park. Now, the closest residential neighbors are 350 feet away, instead of 60.

"Problems start when you try to eke out a small space in an already established park," says Scottsdale Recreation Coordinator Christy Hill. "People who are used to the way things have always been sometimes have a problem."

In Coral Springs, a thick stand of trees buffets Dr. Paul's Pet Care Center Dog Park from a housing development. At the park, plastic wading pools and water hoses cool pooches panting in the midday sun. Owners chat under shade trees, eyes darting toward pets like those of parents on a playground. Most are vigilant about bagging dog messes, one of the park's strictest rules.

When the Coral Springs off-leash park opened in 1997, it was Florida's first. Today there are at least 20 more, from tiny beach parcels to 15-acre DogWood Park in Gainesville, a privately owned park that charges an annual membership fee of $198. DogWood has adjacent areas where dogs can swim in ponds and play in tunnels, and owners can wash their dogs in warm tubs of water. The park hosts as many as 500 pooches on weekends.

"These are our kids," says Steve Thomas, 36, as he romps with Zeus, a mixed-breed, and Gator, a golden retriever. "When my wife and I met, she had two and I had two. It was like The Brady Bunch."