Halifax wants residents to weigh in on off-leash dog parks

HALIFAX – The city is asking all residents to voice their opinions on Halifax’s off-leash dog policy.

In an online survey dog owners and non-dog owners alike can tell the city what they think does and doesn’t work about Halifax‘s off-leash dog parks.

Dog owners at the off-leash area in Africville Park said they and their dogs need more options within HRM, especially outside of the peninsula.

“There is absolutely nothing in all of Bedford which I find unbelievable that they wouldn’t designate an area,” said Christie Brown.

The city said the review will include looking at whether more parks are needed and where they should be located. Manager for Public Lands Planning Peter Bigelow said he’s hoping to hear from all residents on the issue.

“We’re not just asking dog owners, we’re asking everyday citizens who use our parks system to weigh in on this as well, we want to talk about what’s working well and what’s not working,” said Bigelow.

The review of HRM’s off-leash policy was sparked by the decision to close the off-leash area in Africville Park, once an alternative has been found. Jennifer Watts is the councillor for the district that includes the park. She said the city is trying to strike a balance between the needs of different residents.

“I think generally there would be support for having off leash dog facilities, it gets down to making sure there are not conflicts in terms of use,” said Watts. “Up to this point we’ve had off leash dog areas within existing parks but it’s really now looking at a designated off-leash dog park.”

The idea of a fenced-in area just for dogs to run free sits well with Jennifer MacHattie, who often goes to Africville Park’s off-leash area.

“I actually think instead of one dog park is if we could have a bunch of different pocket parks then it would make it easier to find land because even across from here there’s land that nobody’s using, if we could fence that in, we could fence up by the pit and then there’s a few different places out in Bedford and things like that,” said MacHattie.

The deadline to fill out the survey is September 25, Bigelow said he hopes to have a final report submitted to Regional Council later this fall.