Off-leash dog park additions discussed at SPC meeting

The idea of having more off-leash dog parks has been a hot button issue as of late. During a meeting at City Hall members of the Civic Works Standing Policy Committee were shown a presentation exploring the idea of adding in six more off-leash dog parks in our city. A survey was completed in June and over 2,000 residents responded, with 86 per cent saying they are in favour. The motion was passed unanimously by members of the committee and city administration will be directed to report back to city council with more information. Blair Richter, the General Manager of Parks and Cemeteries for the city compared the number of dog parks in Lethbridge to other cities in Alberta.

“Medicine Hat. They have two specific dog parks, but then they also have a lot of open space in their Coulees. They let their dogs off leash in all their Coulee areas, so they’ve got a significant amount of space regarding dog parks. They’ve actually got about 14.84 hectares per thousand residents. We’re around 0.7. We’ve got the five spaces now, and Calgary is ahead of us at 0.89 hectares per thousand people, so we’re not too far off.”

The top three recommended locations are Nicholas Sheran Park, Coalbanks Park and Henderson Lake Park. The construction costs to implement these dog parks would range from $52-134,000.