Speak
NOW or Forever Hold Your
LEASH!!!
Vancouver
Councilor Sandy McCormick, who is also a GVRD Parks
Committee Rep, is calling for a BAN of off-leash dogs in Pacific Spirit
Park (PSP). She says no other jurisdiction in North America allows off-leash
dogs in multi-use parks. We care about the park users here, not those in
other jurisdictions.
All PSP user
groups -- hikers, joggers, bikers, horseback riders, families with small
children, and seniors with canes -- are accompanied by their off-leash dogs.
Commercial walkers’ dogs go off-leash too. The Councilor and her interested
parties targeted only commercial dogwalkers, at first, but have now
publicly included all user groups in their sites. According to a
GVRD staff report, the rules will be
the same for everyone. If the GVRD Parks Committee decides against us, they
decide against you and your off-leash dog.
To be a
delegate/speaker at the April 11th GVRD Parks Committee
Meeting, call the GVRD’s Catherine Gastaldello at 432-6250, who will tell
you how to apply. We really need the help of individual dog owners who
understand the importance of well-exercised dogs and the need to have safe and
roomy places to do it. We want the Committee to make decisions that promote
safety protocols, more training and higher standards, and better park management
and enforcement, not ones that punish all user groups rather than deal with the
few bad apples in each user group.
If an email or
phone call is all you have time for, please let Committee Chair, Gayle Martin, know
your opinion at martin@city.langley.bc.ca or call
514-2824. Get Sandy McCormick at clrmccormick@city.vancouver.bc.ca
or 873-7241.
GVRD parks staff say there were only 37 dog-related complaints out of 800,000 user visits in the year 2000. Dogs upset only a fraction of one percent of people in Pacific Spirit Park. If the cranky minority rules, happy park users will be punished for the complaints of a few. Those getting along in our off-leash parks need to speak up now or risk losing the community feeling we have developed and enjoy in the park. If it happens to us, GVRD Staff has said it will happen to you too.
Speak up now
– or FOREVER HOLD YOUR
LEASH.