After a winter of observation, the Town of Amherst is calling its off-leash dog park pilot project a success ahead of its April 30th closure.
The community agreed in November to run the pilot project in one of the lesser-employed ball fields at Robb’s Complex. While the decision received some pushback from the public, the town used the winter months to monitor the project and noted a number of benchmarks that warranted finding a more desirable and permanent location for an off-leash dog park.
“The project was phenomenal,” Amherst recreation director Bill Schurman said. “There has been hardly a day that gone by where we didn’t see use. We had much feedback from the community users who love the fact they can take their pets and officially let them off-leash.”
The decision to explore the idea of bringing a dog park into the community was a result of public input to form the community’s master plan for recreation a number of years ago. After further public consultation in the summer of autumn of 2017, the pilot project was introduced.
While winter would not be considered the optimum time to conduct a pilot project for an outdoor facility the weather was kind to Atlantic Canada this year and prospective users were able to enjoy the park more often than not.
“The telling point was through [Dogs to Divas Grooming and Training owner] Brandi Nichole. She organized a doggy social during the winter carnival and we had close to 100 animals that came with their owners and guests. They had cake and all kinds of comraderies,” Schurman said. “It was one of the better attended events during winter carnival and it was that moment we said ‘You know what? This is something the community does definitely want.’”
Nichole says she is excited with the community buy-in and lauded the Town of Amherst for pursuing a permanent park in the community. When given the opportunity, she observed the community seized on it.
“It went really well. Every time I went out there were already a handful of people out there,” Nichole said.
As a pet professional Nichole helped dispel some concerns and educate the public on dog park etiquette during the pilot phase.
One of her favourite success stories during this period came from a complete stranger.
“What’s really exciting is I had a tourist come in and wanted to know where it is,” Nichole said.
With more travellers including their pets, Amherst can offer a new opportunity to motorists looking to take a break and let their canine friends stretch their legs and burn off some energy.
Nichole said she was especially pleased with how well the community maintained the park clean up and worked towards keeping the pilot stage incident free.
Schurman echoed Nichole’s observation.
“We had zero complaints from the neighbourhood. We didn’t have any complaints from the users,” Schurman said. “And we learned some things.”
Among them include installing taller fencing when a permanent location is found, Schurman said, and that the majority of owners do pick up after their pets, even in winter.
“They were very respectful of the facility and picking up for others,” Schurman said. “We learned give people the opportunity they will step up and look after things. Overall it was a very positive experience.”
Moving forward, Schurman says his department has been asked by council to determine the scope of work required and location based on public input to find a permanent location for an off-leash park. There will be a limbo period while this work takes place, but Schurman says he’s optimistic something will be in council’s hands sooner or later to consider.
“It’s a good delay because we’re working on the next steps.”
