Ithaca Dog Park

Introduction

For 30 years there has been an unofficial dog park in Ithaca, New York. People have been bringing their dogs to get exercise off leash. It has been a place for dogs who need space to roam or who need to blow off steam. The TCDOG (Tompkins County Dog Owners Group) has been advocating and supporting the park all along. The Ithaca Dog Park is located near the Allan H. Treeman Marina. Part of the unofficial park is on state park land, and some is on city land. The beach (on state land) is used by the dogs for swimming. It is also notable that many other cities have legal off-leash areas, see More Info for a link to listings of those parks.

People have been bringing their dogs to get exercise off leash there for quite a while, even before off leash was legal. The Park land was created when dredging spoils were dumped there in the 1960s and now is used by birdwatchers, joggers, skiers, picnickers and strollers of all ages. It also has a relatively undeveloped shoreline. Dogs and owners have enjoyed this space and water.

Dogs need space to roam and run and dog owners to socialize in this part of the lake front. The City of Ithaca and the New York State Parks Commission, along with the Town of Ithaca, and Tompkins County Board, and park user groups are in the process of planning a fenced in, off-leash area for a dog park at the Marina. As of February 2008 there is a temporary fenced-in area where Ithacans and others can come and bring their dogs to exercise. Dogs outside the fenced area are required to be leashed. This officially approved off leash area was moved and somewhat expanded in May 2008 to straddle both City and State owned land.

The Dog Park is located on the Festival Lands adjacent to the Allan H. Treman State Marina Park at the head of Cayuga Lake. It is also notable that many other cities have legal off-leash areas, fenced and not fenced.Fact|date=May 2008 Below are links to dog parks and some information on the City of Ithaca's actions in creating the temporary fenced in dog park.

The Temporary Park

On Wednesday 12/5/07 the Common Council unanimously voted in the extension to the leash law exemption. This would extend the temporary legal dog park until April 3rd within a fenced in area of the City's Festival Lands.

The Terms of the extension

* Making it legal to have dogs off leash within a designated fenced area of the Festival Lands until April 3rd 2008.
* Constructing a $6,000 temporary fence around the festival lands. Much of the opposition to the park should be solved by building this fence, although others have said that it is pointless to erect a fence to keep the dogs away from people when the city has acknowledged that dog walkers are the only ones to use the park in the winter.

The Fence

On Saturday, December 15th TCDOG members volunteered to pound in fence posts for a convert|4|ft|abbr=on tall fence that will surround the new temporary park. The city has alloted $6,000 to construct a temporary fence. The extension is now valid because the fence was completed in early January 2008.

Vote Change Explanations

Why they changed their votes:

External links

* The Tompkins County Dog Owners Group (TCDOG) website has extensive information on the history of the area and the recent efforts to create a legal off leash dog area: [http://www.tcdog.org tcdog.org]
* Listings of the numerous other legal dog parks in the US: [http://www.dogfriendly.com/server/travel/guides/dogpark/dogpark.shtml Dogfriendly.com-Off-Leash Dog Parks]
* An updates blog: [http://ithacadogpark.wordpress.com/ ithacadogpark.wordpress.com]
* Ithaca Off-Leash Dog Park Advocates: [http://ithacaunleashed.com/ ithacaunleashed.com]

News Articles

Citations

These news articles were used as citations for this article.

* Citation
title = Fencing is up; off-leash park reopens at Festival Lands
newspaper = The Ithaca Journal
year = 2008
date = January 12
url = http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008801120333

*Citation
title= Common Council votes unanimously to reinstate, extend leash-law exemption
newspaper= The Ithaca Journal
last= Gashler
first= Krisy
year= 2007
date= December 6
url= http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071206/NEWS01/71206001/1002

*Citation
title= Dog park exemption returns to city agenda
newspaper= The Ithaca Journal
last= Gashler
first= Krisy
year= 2007
date= December 4
url= http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071204/NEWS01/712040350/1002

*Citation
title= Council will address dog park, looming end of leash law exemption
newspaper= The Ithaca Journal
last= Gashler
first= Krisy
year= 2007
date= November 23
url= http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071123/NEWS01/711230355/1002

Other Articles

* [http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13922439&BRD=1395&PAG=461&dept_id=511675&rfi=6 Is Ithaca Going to the Dogs?]
* [http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15051304&BRD=1395&PAG=461&dept_id=511326&rfi=6 It's A Doggy Dog World]