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A dog park for Grand Rapids
by Peter Ippel
Staff Writer
FILE PHOTO
Someday dogs may have their own park in GR in which to play.
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Grand Rapids is beginning to consider the possibility of adding dog parks to some of its city parks, or so some local dog owners are hoping. Dog owner Dottie Rhodes and others are working on a petition that would add some fenced in areas and give dogs the freedom to run without the confinements of a leash.
According to the website dedicated to information about the dog park, www.grdogparks.com, the petition is going to be presented to Grand Rapids very soon. The petition comes in response to the city taking away the dog park area of Cambridge park in Grand Rapids.
The people petitioning for the dog park feel that it would give both dogs and their owners a chance to socialize with one another. Another benefit to having a dog park is that it helps keep dog waste confined to a specific area. According to Grand Rapids Parks and Recreation employee Debbie Hofman, “A lot of people walk their dogs and do not clean up after them.” Having designated areas for dogs would reduce this problem.
On the other hand, Hofman stated that there are also disadvantages in building dog parks. First of all, if Grand Rapids built only one or two dog parks, they would only really be of use to the surrounding community. Hofman stated that she did not think that people “would drive their dog 10 miles in the car to get out at the dog park and then go home when they could run their dog in the park across the street.” Secondly, the money that would go to building these dog parks, according to First Ward City Commissioner James Jendrasiak, would cost an estimated 200,000.
This money would come from tax payers and would be money that would normally go to improving parks for children. This also was a cause of some concern for Hofman, who stated that there were many parks in very poor conditions. Also this summer, the playground equipment at John Ball Park was condemned and new equipment took a long time in coming.
Due to these concerns Hofman feels “that the city should spend more money on making the parks they do have safer.”
The parks have made some budget cuts and so there is even less spending. The question remains about what the city should do with its money. Even if a dog park does not come immediately, there are plans of incorporating them in the master plan according to Jendrasiak. So, the city will continue to work on improving the parks that it has and eventually there will be some for dogs and some for children.
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