Perk your ears to these options: Mutt Mondays, Terrier Tuesdays and Shih Tzu Saturdays.
If those ideas sound like they’re for the dogs, you’re correct.
With city officials pondering over setting specific dates and times for Gilroy’s large and small pooches at the Las Animas dog park – in addition to a solid chain-link fence that already separates the two breeds – it’s an option that would give new, literal meaning to “dog days.”
It’s been – so far – an option that could make the city’s lone dog park more “user-friendly,” City of Gilroy Parks and Recreation officials say. Others, however, say the split would be unnecessary, that the park already sections off large dogs from small dogs, and such a change won’t remedy issues that some feel mar the 1-acre, $170,000 facility – including lack of use and an occasional bout with the overly aggressive pup.
When Gilroy Foundation Executive Director Donna Pray saw the discussion item, which first appeared on the commission’s agenda for its Aug. 16 meeting, her reaction was immediate and puzzled.
“I said, ‘What is going on here?’ We have a large dog park and a small dog park (already),” Pray said.
Pray is no stranger to the doggie den, located at the Las Animas Veterans Park on Mantelli Drive. It was $50,000 from Jacqui and Craig Merriman that Pray and the Foundation used to spruce up the dog park in honor of the couple’s son, Sean, an animal lover who was killed in a 2006 accident while working for Caltrans on U.S. Highway 101.
Enacting new rules won’t improve residents’ dog park experience, Pray said. It’s enforcing the ones currently on the books: keeping large and small breeds in their respective pens and a zero-tolerance policy for owners of aggressive dogs.
“I’ve never had a problem there (with aggressive dogs), but there have been people who have said they have,” Pray said. “It makes no sense to have designated days and designated hours. It has nothing to do with size of dogs. It’s aggressive dogs and bad owners.”
Anna Bielecki, chair of the city’s Parks and Recreation commission, wrote in an email the idea for separate dates and times arrived not on the heels of run-ins between dogs, but “out of an interest to make Gilroy’s dog park as user-friendly as possible.”
“It is my understanding that the discussion/investigation would be in regards to ensuring that residents of Gilroy know about our dog park and are utilizing it to its full potential,” Bielecki wrote.
Of the 600 participants who responded to the question, “How often do you visit the dog park?” in this past winter’s Discover Gilroy citywide survey, 1 percent answered “daily,” 5 percent answered “weekly,” 8 percent answered “monthly” and 85 percent answered “rarely.” The findings yielded no action plans for the park in a recently released, 25-page set of marketing initiatives based on the survey.
The problems the dog park is facing, aren’t necessarily because of aggressive dogs, Bielecki said. She said the commission “has not been made aware by the Gilroy Police Department or residents, of any recent aggressive dog incidents taking place at the City of Gilroy Dog Park.”
She did say, “Aggressive dogs at dog parks, small or large, is probably something all dog parks experience.”
Requests for comments from the Gilroy Police Department regarding animal control issues at the park were not returned as a of press time.
City Recreation Director Maria De Leon confirmed new dog park hours weren’t yet a concrete option. When asked if the park sometimes had issues with aggressive dogs, De Leon said, “That happens at all the dog parks. We can’t control that.”
The commission has made no decision regarding the possible new hours, and the issue has been limited to informational discussions, De Leon and Bielecki said. The commission is expected to take up the topic again at its Nov. 15 meeting.
For now, though, there doesn’t seem to be much support for anything but the status quo.
“There’s no need,” said Bill Headley, the city’s parks and landscape supervisor.
The entrances to both the small dog and big dog pens include signs directing users to which side they should take their dogs. Large dogs are prohibited in the small dog area, and small dogs may enter the larger area “at owners risk,” according to the signs.
When asked if she would support different days and hours, dog park regular Karen Humber said, “No, because there’s already two different portions. I don’t understand why that would be necessary.”
Humber, a special education teacher at Luigi Aprea Elementary, said she visits the “usually pretty quiet” dog park once or twice a week with her 7-year-old chow-spitz mix Tessa.
She said she’s witnessed occasional aggressive behavior from other dogs, but never stays long enough for it to escalate.
“I’ve had a couple experiences where I’ve had a couple dogs maybe being overly playful or too aggressive,” Humber said. “But I just leave.”
Betty Kinkel, who takes her 8-year-old Chihuahua Daisy to the park five days a week, said she is often cautious about taking her to the area when other dogs are roaming about.
“I don’t take her into the park if there’s any big ones. If there’s other small dogs I’ll take her occasionally,” Kinkel said. “I don’t get close enough if I can avoid it. With a little dog, I don’t take a chance.”
Because of that, she’s managed to avoid any heart-stopping moments with other dogs.
“I haven’t personally run into it there,” she said. “I’m trying to get some weight off my dog. She’s way too heavy.”
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