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| Dog
hours in parks debated by Encinitas residents:Off-leash issue worries some Dana Littlefield San Diego Union-Tribune
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ENCINITAS – Finding enough park space for the city's residents has long been a hot issue, but it gets even hotter when dogs and their owners are added to the mix. The Parks and Recreation Commission last night heard from more than 25 speakers about off-leash dog hours at Glen Park in Cardiff. Over the next six months, other hearings will focus on dog hours at Cardiff Sports Park, Leo Mullen Sports Park, Hawk View Park, Scott Valley Park, Sun Vista Park and Leucadia Oaks Park. Many speakers told the commission they were concerned that unleashed dogs could harm children. "Toddlers might be holding food near their faces, and the dogs will go for the food," said Theresa Beauchamp. who works in health care. "It just takes a second." Most of the commissioners supported dog hours at Glen Park on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 6 to 7 a.m. and two hours before sunset, for a six-month trial. Two commissioners, Robert Nanninga and John Warner Smith, dissented. Nanninga said the park was too small, and he feared water runoff would pollute the ocean. The commission will send its recommendations to the City Council. The city now allows dogs to run unleashed during special hours at two city parks: Orpheus Park on Orpheus Avenue in Leucadia and Encinitas Viewpoint Park at Cornish Drive and D Street near City Hall. Dog hours are Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 6 to 7:30 a.m. and from 4 to 6 p.m. "Three times a week (Orpheus Park) comes alive with people exchanging stories and dogs running and playing," said Larry Anderson, who lives near the park. "It's wonderful. It's an enriching experience." Lu Meyer, chairwoman of an advocacy group known as People and Dogs Zones, said before the meeting that Encinitas needs at least four areas spread through the city where dogs and their owners can socialize. She said there are 50 to 60 dogs at Orpheus Park some mornings. "We don't want to have the dog areas where it's a long trip for people," said Meyer, who owns a dog-training business in Olivenhain. "It's not so much the dog owners taking the dogs out to let them play, but (the owners) are having a great time themselves." But some Encinitas residents say people – especially children – shouldn't have to share space with animals. Even cordoned-off areas can pose a danger when youngsters stick their fingers through fences, they say. "It takes away from parents the power and choice
to decide whether their children should interact with dogs and puts
it on the dog owners," Cardiff resident Dana Jacobs said before
the meeting. "Dog owners are not always super-objective about their
own dog's temperament."
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