The spring thaw means muddy terrain, but the mud that has built up at a Halifax off-leash dog park has made much of the area unusable, according to park users.
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“Who wants to come here and put their dog through this, let alone getting home and having to deal with all the mud?” Susan Warren said on Thursday.
The park is located at Halifax Mainland Common. The L-shaped main portion is covered with mud so thick that dogs and humans can find it difficult to walk on.
There are also several puddles, one wide enough to fit several dogs.
“It’s so muddy, it’s so rutted. I’ve fallen in between the ruts. A dog has fallen and broken a leg,” said Warren.
Michael D’Costa said he visits the park for up to two hours daily.
He said his dog Stanley, like other dogs, doesn’t walk on the portion covered with mud, instead sticking to the outlying patches of grass.
“The dogs come in here and they start playing, and they come in relatively clean and, when they leave, they’re absolutely filthy,” said D’Costa.
He added that he believes there are at least 10 to 15 per cent fewer people visiting because of the condition of the park.
Lucas Wide, a spokesperson for the municipal government, said the thaw has affected the park.
“The conditions are very less than ideal, but the municipality does have a plan to ensure that that’s not the case next year,” he said.
Wide said plans are in the works to install a drainage pipe in the late spring or early summer.
The government will explore putting different surfaces, such as an engineer mulch and grass combination or limestone screenings.
He also said that the government is exploring demand for off-leash parks in other areas to help reduce the reliance on this park and give people more options.
Warren said she’s concerned about the current conditions of the park and how usable it will be in the warmer and drier months.
She added that people come from from throughout the municipality to use the park, including one user from Enfield, N.S.