MoWest trying off-leash dogs experiment in park

By Joel Goldenberg, September 12th, 2012

Montreal West recently lessened the enforcement of its prohibition against dogs running free in parks, as an experiment leading to a possible bylaw and an enclosed dog run.
This was revealed during the September council meeting, when council regular Daniel Markuze pointed out that he has been seeing many dogs running free at Rugby Park.
“Since when did it become a dog run?” Markuze asked. “There are signs all over the park, saying 'no dogs allowed.' Why would there be dogs in the park, especially not on a leash?”
Mayor Beny Masella said he goes to that park with his own dog.
“What we've tried to do lately is, since we don't have an official dog run in the park, we've said to ourselves that our public security officers won't have such an issue [with dogs] if there are no kids in the park and if it's at a certain time  - early in the morning or late in the evening.
“We're in the process of reviewing how this little experiment has been going,” the mayor said. “If it works, we'll adopt it into a bylaw. If it doesn't work, we can try to find something else.”
Councillor Julie Tasker-Brown, in charge of the public security portfolio on council, said some residents have been talking about dog runs for years.
“We explored different options at that time, looking at where to do it and the costs,” she explained. “We thought, before we go to the expense of the dog run route, we'd look at allowing dogs to run off leash during certain times, when there are no activities or kids, with responsible dog owners. So far, for the most part, this has been working really well.”
Tasker-Brown said the experiment will be evaluated at the next traffic and safety committee meeting, and a possible dog run will also be considered.
“If we were to decide it was a good idea to continue [with dogs running off leash], we would only do that if there were posted times. We would have to be very clear about when different parks would be used for dogs running off leash, so people would know whether or not they could use the park at those times. We're looking at a two-pronged approach to dog owner services - to see if there's a place to provide an enclosed dog run as well as allowing people to run their dogs off leash.”
Markuze said he did not support the idea, for sanitary reasons. “Dogs leave something, and later children come and play there,” he added. “We worry so much about the environment. Leaf blowers are such a big thing, but dogs can do whatever they want to do. Many times, dog owners do not clean or do not clean properly.” He suggested use of a dog run near the town's arena.
“Parks are for people, not for dogs,” Markuze said.
Tasker-Brown countered that there are many parks in the world where dogs can run free, including in Montreal. “Most of our dog owners are extremely responsible,” she added. “I have a dog and I rarely see droppings. A lot of dog owners are looking not only to socialize their dogs but also to socialize too.”
Councillor Dino Mazzone said he sympathized with Markuze's viewpoint.
“I have three kids and I'm always concerned,” he said. “Strathearn Park is a bit of a dog's breakfast - there's not a consistency in terms of how this is done. You're not the only one. You should be raising that comment more often, and perhaps other people feel the same way. Maybe we'll adopt something a lot clearer in terms of where we should go.”
A new resident to Montreal West also objected to dogs running free for sanitary reasons, and suggested an enclosed area.n