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Yorba Park Should Go to the Dogs


Cheri McDonald
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Apparently owning a dog is something that does not ?fit the life style? of living in the City of Orange. Or so I was told by one of our city representatives at a parks planning commission meeting that my husband and I attended on Dec 12th. A neighbor and fellow non-Orange-life-style dog owner, informed us about the meeting and the ongoing battle to set aside a portion of Yorba Park as an off leash dog park. The meeting began with the public addressing their wants and concerns for the project. For the most part everyone seemed very respectful of each others time to speak.

 

The council room itself was divided strictly into two groups, those for and those against. To be honest I was very embarrassed, my husband and I received many glaring stares from the side of the room we were sitting on after we stood up in favor of the dog park. I felt like a McCoy caught on the Hatfield side of the fence. We were approached by a very nice reporter from the OCRegister asking us our opinion and she was rudely interrupted by a gang of elderly Hatfield?s strictly against any dogs in ?THEIR? neighborhood park.

 

Apparently, if you don?t live within a certain radius of said ?Neighborhood? park you are not welcome to use it. Especially if you are going to park your car, bring your dog, or have a pickup game of baseball. From the meeting I understood that Yorba Park is actually old land fill and that due to ground stability and gases there isn?t really anything that can be built on it and it has to be re-graded continuously because of the settling.

 

The kicker is the park has been locked up and not used by the public for the last 2 years and the estimated time for ground breaking on this new park, dog section aside, is not scheduled until 2008 or 2009. The City pays $17,000.00 a year to water and mow 8 acres of fenced property that NO ONE can use. The Orange Dog Park Association, a wonderful group of caring dog owners that ?don?t fit the Orange life style? are asking for the park to be opened in the interim as a dog park. They have raised the funds privately for the fencing and other upgrades needed to do this. I hope the City of Orange Parks Commission will think again about letting dog owners use this currently unusable piece of land that sits on the 55 Freeway and busy Chapman Ave. (At least until all the Hatfield?s have gone to that great neighborhood park in the sky)

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Good luck to you. Most people that object to dog parks are usually put off by the few that don't keep control of their dogs, don't clean up after them, and don't give a hoot. As usual, a few irresponsible people give all dog owners a bad name. There is a little city just north of us that you can't even walk your dog in the parks even on a leash, but they do have an off leash park at the beach. My little city had a park that people used as a dog park, and it was bustling daily. A year ago, they posted all kinds of signs about it not being an off leash area, how much fines would be, and now the park is rarely used. It has no play equipment for kids, no real picnic areas, etc, just trails. Oh well, 5 years, we're out of here!

 

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Cindy & Daphne

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Anyone familiar with Manhattan knows that dog parks are a way of life. They are governed by a committee and have strict rules and regulations. Owners are responsible for the clean up after their dogs. Dogs that are aggressive are not welcomed in the dog run---and I can think of at least one which does not allow toys because of the possible consequences of dog fights breaking out over toys. Dog runs are wonderful for social interactions for dogs & humans. Perhaps your group of people should look to Manhattanites who use their neighborhood dog runs for any arguments supporting a dog run in your area.

 

I live in NE Ohio, and we're stuck in a 1950's mentality over here, but we did get a dog run established about 20 miles from me, which I will travel to, because it's good exposure for the dogs.

 

Ours involved petitions and some research with well-founded facts, and in your case, hopefully, some open-mindedness on the part of your politicians. Bottom line is that we are all dog owners who pay taxes and vote. Unfortunately, any legislation favoring the dog owner is an uphill battle.

 

In our area, we've run into the "What about the chidren??!!!" mentality anytime the subject of any sort of amenities for dog owners is brought up. What about the children? They have plenty of places to play in. An otherwise unwanted area set aside for dogs might in fact benefit children and community in general. People will be less likely allow their dogs to run loose---and aren't most cases of dog bites from loose running dogs?

 

It's an uphill battle, but dog parks are now the growing trend in this country. I think there is a dog park in Indianapolis, where you apply to join, pay a nominal membership fee and if accepted, are given a key card to enter. This doesn't sound like a bad idea either.

 

Please keep us posted. I am really interested in how things turn out for you.

And remember---"I am a dog owner and I vote".

 

Vicki

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