PAWS in Jackson Hole News & Guide Weekly for Wednesday, September 23, 2009
(Article edited for length. Check out the entire article in the JH News & Guide weekly newspaper.)
Dog Park Desirable but Just Not There
Jackson town councilors turned down a proposal to build a dog park on a piece of land adjacent to the County Fair Building. PAWS Board Member Larry Hamilton said that even if the site near the Fair Building did not work, there should be some site that could work as a dog park. Hamilton also said that the current draft of the Jackson/Teton County Comprehensive Plan includes a clause that encourages local governments to establish a dog park.
Councilors directed Town Manager Bob McLaurin to talk with PAWS Executive Director Amy Romaine to find other options for sites that could house a dog park. “The number one question we get is, ‘Where is there a dog park?’” Romaine said. “Right now I basically just suggest that people go to Cache Creek, which can get congested or where they might have conflicts with other wildlife.” In a letter to councilors, Romaine estimated there are 10,000 dogs living in Jackson and even more when counting those brought into town by tourists. Romaine said a dog park would help reduce the amount of poop on public and private property around town, give commuters who bring their dogs to work a place to let them out, and provide a venue in which to promote responsible dog ownership.
“We went through this for three or four years in Vail,” McLaurin said. “It was fight after fight after fight . . . You just have to make a decision that this is going to be the place where dogs can be off leash and go with it.”
(end article)
———————
PAWS would like to add that a town dog park would be a privately-funded endeavor. Also, a special thank you goes out to the Jackson Hole News & Guide for writing this article and giving the topic of dog parks the attention it deserves!
