Dogs at play at a community created dog park in the Central District
If venturing to Cal Anderson or Volunteer Park, one can expect to see dogs off leash roaming freely with their furry friends. However joyous those games of fetch and chase may seem, the city has been cracking down and ticketing owners for having their fur babies off leash.
“It continues to be against park code to have your dog off leash outside of an OLA [off leash area] and there is an animal enforcement team that issues tickets for infractions,” said Rachel Schulkin, director of public affairs for Seattle Parks and Recreation.
Yes, Cal Anderson is getting renewed energy and planning around making it a safer, cleaner community space. And, yes, they are rebuilding the play area for human kids. But what about the fur kids?
Multifamily housing developer, dog owner, and long-time Seattle resident Benjamin Maritz has a unique perspective on the issue. Martiz lives near Volunteer Park and works in affordable housing around Capitol Hill and the Central District. He likes to walk his poodle mixes in Volunteer and Cal Anderson.
“Both of these places are very much de facto off leash dog parks, and I’ve let my dogs off leash—especially when there are enough other dogs off leash to where it’s operating as an off leash dog park,” Maritz said. “I don’t ever see any issues. Occasionally, the dogs will share the space with some folks playing rugby or soccer.”
What sets Maritz and his poodle apart from other Hill area dog families is the developer had some land available to try to do something about the lack of off-leash space, and opened a community site on some currently underutilized property.
Maritz said some neighbors didn’t have positive feedback about future development plans at 22nd and Cherry. “But they did all ask if they could bring their dogs to that lot,” Maritz said. A fence was placed around the area and the neighbors went on paw-trol duty for any ticketers.
It’s a rare space you won’t find in most corners of the Hill and the Central District.
For other dog families, the city claims to be working on addressing the lack of OLAs.
Schulkin says Seattle Parks and Recreation constructed the city’s first OLA in 1997 and says the department knows there is a need for an increase in space due to the exponential growth of the population — including dogs. Department estimates from 2016 suggest that there were about 150,000 dogs in Seattle at that time.
Schulkin said Parks and Recreation has had some success with gradually increasing the number of OLAs over the years, but that the current situation calls for a more concrete and robust plan. The department also hopes to improve the overall quality of existing OLAs.
“The impetus for this OLA Study, led by subject matter experts at SPR, comes from the recognition of this need and is intended to take a broader look at 30 sites across the city that may have the potential to become future OLAs,” Schulkin said.
But it is the longest possible dog walk of a path to action.
The OLA study has been ongoing for five years, and since 2016, some improvements have been made. At I-5 Colonnade, gravel was scrapped and added to minimize buildup in high spots. Funding initiatives to maintain and improve OLAs in Seattle budgeted $126,000 for this year, and $129,000 for 2024.
“This study, using existing knowledge about OLA best practices as well as lessons learned by SPR over the past 2.5 decades, will examine each site from an environmental, engineering, geographic, equity, and dog behavioral perspective,” Schulkin said.
In the meantime, Parks points dog families to Capitol Hill’s three closest dog parks that serve the larger area: Blue Dog, I-5 Colonnade, and Plymouth Pillars,” Schuklin said.
Blue Dog Pond is located at 1520 26th Ave S, and includes 1.7 acres of a wide and rectangular field with grassy slopes and art sculptures throughout the park. I-5 Colonnade has half an acre of crushed gravel surface, benches and a portable water source at 1701 Lake Boulevard East. Plymouth Pillars offers 0.2 acres of crushed rock surface, with a long and narrow design, and a view of downtown.
At the conclusion of the study, SPR will present the community with a list of sites they believe are feasible and most suited for OLAs, and from there, SPR must request additional funding to construct and maintain any additional OLAs. SPR encourages reporting off leash dogs to Seattle Animal Control, where officers are responsible for enforcing laws and codes, and work every day of the week.
We asked Seattle Parks for when that conclusion might be reached but, doggone it, there’s no date currently in the plan.
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“De facto dog parks” is another way of saying that people are too lazy and entitled to bring their dogs to a proper location for exercise and socializing…
Amen!
Fantastic. More of this, please. If you have rules/laws, at least enforce them. The reason people violate these laws are because they don’t feel like they will get caught.
I wonder how those playing rugby or soccer view it… as ‘sharing’ or interrupting their activities in a space in which it was designed for – which the quoted tends to gloss over. And can we talk about the piss and feces that are in areas now where people recreate? Not everyone loves your dog, to assume such is indicative of Seattle Dog Culture.
Good that they’re looking for other places to turn into [legal] off lease parks, but it doesn’t matter how many or how close/far, without enforcement of the leash laws in places where it’s prohibited, there’s little incentive for our whiny dog folks to go to those – and short of putting one out in front of their residence, they’ll never be close or convenient enough – they complain about the ones we already have (there’s one in front of Pine+Minor by I-5…not very far from Cal Anderson).
As a dog rescuer and lover, I cannot stand all these loose dogs. I cannot walk mine in any city park due to irresponsible people breaking the law and refusing to restrain their dogs. I have had 2 of my dogs injured by “friendly” dogs who were illegally off-leash. My dogs did not participate in either attack. One was bit in the eyeball, and the other was a deaf 16-year-old who a dog ran up on from behind, tackled, and gave seizures and a permanent spinal injury. The dogs who bit my other dog’s eye proceeded to try to take my human partner’s foot off, and then permanently injured a woman in her 70s 3 days later, and her dog had to have its spleen removed. The owner admitted her dogs had bitten people in the past but said she “took care of it.” Clearly not. What happened to her? Some fines, and right back at it a few weeks later when her dogs scratched a woman diving on her trying to attack her dog that she picked up to try to protect it. Animal Control told her the owner just got a bunch of fines so she didn’t need more so soon. It’s terrible not to able to visit a park with a city dog who never sees grass.
The departments in the city that would likely deal with this are understandably a bit preoccupied with finding space for people in Seattle, let alone it’s dogs. If some wealthy dog owners want to start a OLA nonprofit that builds these as a resource for the city that would be great, otherwise I don’t think pet ownership is a fundamental human right, and if people don’t have the space to properly care for a dog they should consider a smaller dog or consider pet sitting 🤷🏻♂️
Seattle Parks and Recreation’s job is literally this… not finding people space…lol
Seattle Parks and Recs job is to provide space for dogs?!? You seem utterly confused…
Why, yes! It, in fact, is.
https://www.seattle.gov/parks/about-us/projects/dog-off-leash-areas
But let’s see what non-sequitur or Gish Gallop you respond with next, that again tries to evade your original fallacious logic.
They are piloting it because a bunch of entitled dog owners keep pressing them for this, but if you look at their mission statement and description they seem pretty focused on people and land stewardship… https://www.seattle.gov/parks/about-us
A little context, from 2000:
Judge orders off-leash area closed at park
By Beth Kaiman
Seattle Times staff reporter
The off-leash dog area at Seattle’s Volunteer Park must close by Nov. 3, a judge ruled yesterday.
Dogs had ruined trees in the park’s original off-leash area, and the city failed to assess possible damage before it opened a new area, said King County Superior Court Judge Michael Heavey.
In ordering the closure, Heavey said Seattle parks officials made an “honest mistake” in not completing an environmental analysis before opening the new off-leash area in August.
He said dog owners’ interests had to be weighed, but more attention had to be paid to the “crown jewel of the Seattle park system.”
More recently, and for several years, an informal group of dog owners met daily with their off-leash dogs just in front of the amphitheater. Eventually, the grass there was totally destroyed, and the area had to be roped off and repaired. This is an example of how entitled and selfish some dog owners can be.
Too bad so sad! I am so sick of these entitled dog owners in this city. Don’t own a dog if you live in a dense area that isn’t suitable for it. Do you think this is an issue in NYC or Chicago? No because people figure it out. There’s barely dog parks there either.
Every time I see dogs on Cal Anderson my blood boils. This city really needs to make you take classes on how to be a dog owner. Don’t get me started on off-leash offenders.
In before the idiots somehow use their homeless-hating complex and spin a dog owner problem in to a typical Seattle homeless-hating hoorah. I’m sure it’ll happen.
There are rules that dogs have to be on a leash unless in a designated off leash area. It’s pretty easy for us dog owners to give their dogs plenty of exercise on their leashes. It bugs me too to see them off leash. It’s an enforcement issue, as with all rules if they aren’t enforced people won’t follow them.
Of course it’s an issue in NYC and Chicago. I lived in Chicago and dogs were constantly off leash in places where they shouldn’t have been. My Chicago neighborhood “figured it out” by going ahead and building an unofficial dog park in a tennis court, complete with agility equipment. The city left it alone and the community maintained it.
So I guess the tennis players are shit out of luck, eh? Dog Culture Entitlement to the max right there.
No. The tennis courts were old and no one used them. There were plenty of others for people to use (but even those went unused most of the time).
Dogs aren’t supposed to be on the playfields PERIOD… much less off leash. Just being there is an issue. I hope they give a ton of tickets..
This is why I avoid Cal Anderson like the plague. I’m very allergic to dogs and my partner lives in mortal fear of dogs. There’s way too many dog owners there with off leash dogs, taking over non dog areas like a mob. What’s worse is they gaslight the beejesus outta ya – “Oh, he just wants to make friends,” as doggo jumps on me, and I’m clearly unhappy, and contact that I never consented to with their dog gives me hives. Dog owners in the area need to do more to respect other human’s boundaries and rights.
Blue Dog Pond is aptly named because it’s a flooded pool of mud when it rains. My dogs also cut their paws at the dog park under freeway off of Lakeview Blvd and it’s scary because the homeless/mental/drug-users hang out under there. I keep my dogs on their leashes when walking elsewhere, but I’m guilty of occasionally letting them off-leash when it’s raining and nobody else is around. I only let them do a few zoomies and then put their leashes back on to resume their walks. I also go to other off-leash dog parks, but they can get very crowded.
Glad to hear they’re ticketing law-breakers. Drives me crazy when I see dogs running around a park off-leash. Dog-owners need to realize that not everyone wants random dogs running up to them, especially small kids. Doesn’t matter if you say “don’t worry, she’s fine”…
We were so close to having a heavily commented article with general agreement 🤣
So a bunch of people move to Seattle with their dogs (or use their stimulus checks for a furry companion) and then the city is supposed build a bunch of parks for their dogs? Do you hear how entitled that sounds? I would rather the city focus on more pressing issues and I get the sense that a “5 year study on OLAs” is the parks department more or less saying “no” for the time being and that there will likely won’t be much staff time dedicated to it.
Replace “dogs” with “cars” and “parks” with “roads”
That doesn’t change the answer 🤣 More lanes and roads don’t fix traffic… and if the people that moved to the city could find some comfort in the humans that live here rather than relying on “pets” to meet their emotional needs the this wouldn’t be an issue… 🤷🏻♂️
Maybe we don’t want the parks? You sound entitled.
T.T. Minor is not an OLA. Stop destroying the kids play field and start being responsible dog owners
There are a lot of felony crimes in the city that are not being prosecuted nor investigated. I’d prefer the city would go after those folks before spending efforts on dog tickets and other minor issues (as annoying as some of those may be)
Some people fear dogs. Any dogs. Some are allergic. I’ve seen off-leash dogs at Volunteer Park take a dump in the playground area well out of sight of owners then romp back to them. Leash your dogs, please.
My most vivid memory was an off leash dog being aggressive to a unhomed person who had been talking to themself and slightly dancing. The person barked and grandstanded as a way to protect themself. The owners were very slow and ineffective in getting their dog under control. It made the park seem unsafe and I am sure many people were more worried about the person barking than the dog, but it was not their fault the dog was aggressive.