Friday April 3, 2009
Dear Councilor Bowser
As the council member responsible for Westmount parks I am writing to ask that you work to resolve tow key longstanding issues at the Lansdowne dog run. These problems affect not only for the dogs and people using the run, but passersby and the streams of traffic at that very busy intersection.
The two issues are the inadequate height of the fence and the shoddy state of disrepair of the gates and gate hardware. A third concern is that of the sharp rocks used to replace the existing pea gravel by the site evaluators/soil analysts last year, but that is not the real focus of this email.
In terms of the fence, dog runs in Canada and the US on average have fences that are between four and six feet in height. The Lansdowne run is about three and a bit feet tall. The fence itself is uneven, with some spots being 27 inches, some 30, some 42 inches. Three and a bit give or take feet is not tall enough to keep dogs in who are determined to get out.
This past winter, the fence was clearly inadequate, with the snow in some places being almost as tall as the fence, making it a real challenge to keep some dogs in. in fact, several dog owners stopped bringing their dogs to the run because they couldn’t be sure that they’d be able to keep them in the run. Even shorter dogs were able to hop out as the snow level was in some places as tall as the garbage bins!
During your absence over the winter Councilor Forbes arranged for the placement of recycled Christmas trees around the lowest bits of the fence to increase the height of the existing fence as a deterrent – and, for the most part, it worked.
Since then however, my dog has leapt the fence three times, racing out into Lansdowne the last time right into oncoming traffic. Luckily nothing happened (I had a good grip on his tail at this point), but the person driving did not slow down or even seem to acknowledge that we were in the middle of the road.
The concern with the gates is their state of repair. The two that actually open are in terrible shape, in fact, I think the hinges have been broken for the past six or so months. Over the winter, the inside gate was frozen open for the last two months making it challenging for people and pets to enter the run, especially those citizens who are a little older and less confident on ice. The other gate, the one closer to Westmount Park, doesn’t open at all as it has been chained shut.
Gates should open and close easily. Fences should be tall enough that people walking on the outside of the fence are not fearful that the dogs will jump out. Fences should be tall enough that the people on the inside are not fearful that their dogs will jump out, or that aggressive dogs will not be able to jump in.
The dog runs should continue to be very real communities of like minded people who come together with their pets in secure areas to meet, play, socialize, chat, exchange information, opinions and have fun.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards
Amy Creighton
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Councillor Bowser, to his credit, went and looked at the dog run and: replaced the sharp stones with pea gravel, had the gates repaired with new posts, and suggested that the issue of the perimeter fence would be addressed.
Additional actions taken since then include the ongoing presence of my dad, Paul Creighton, at council meetings, where he enquires about the fence status.
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