Trying to get Dog Park in South Bend

[adb25]

Hi,
Im new to this forum and like it so far. I'm heading up an action committee to get a Dog Park in South Bend. Ive copied the cover sheet of our petition below to explain more. We are asking for community Support. Not for your money. Just an email or reply to this post stating that you are in favor of a leash free dog park. We cannot do this without 10-13 thousand signatures/ emails. Laporte, Lake and Elkhart county already have them and we think it is a great idea for South Bend. The Park would be self supporting, meaning that people or taxpayers who do not use it, would not have to pay a dime for it. we are looking for corporate sponsors for the inital costs, priniting of petitions and flyers. So if you would be in favor of and/or use the dog park, please send an email to southbenddogpark@sbcglobal.net or adb25@sbcglobal.net or just reply to this post. Happy posting! and Thank you for your support.

What is a Leash Free Dog Park?
A park that is fenced in with a separate small dog area, training area with obstacles
Where your dog can socialize with other dogs.
Aggressive dogs would not be allowed,
Owners must show proof of up to date vaccines:)
Owners are responsible to pick up after their dogs
Owners would pay a $25-50 annual fee to help maintain and improve the park.
If you are in favor of a park like this,
We Need Your Support!
Please sign the Petition. Please list the county you live in and if you would like us to contact you, please list your contact information.

[Taeric]

Dog parks are wonderful, and I wish you the best of luck in your pursuits. We have two dog parks here in Lexington (which is roughly the same size as SB), and they were a joint project between an organization similar to yours and the City. You can find more information about them here (http://www.friendsofthedogpark.org/), which may be helpful.

My wife is originally from South Bend and still has lots of family there. I'll be sure to pass your info on to them.

[adb25]

Thank you for the information. We are using alot of info from existing parks to model ours after. I will definatly check out the ones in your town.

[MrsRottie]

Yes Yes Yes I support you fully!

We should all have somewhere lovely we can let our dogs run free as they are supposed to :)

Best of Luck, please let us know how you get on.

[MaryGrace]

Great job, I totally support you! Now I have to get a dog park in my town. Any ideas?

[adb25]

talk to the parks dept and see what advice they can offer and if they might be willing to contribute some green space (existing). See what kind of community support you need to get, or see if the city is willing to buy some abandoned building (brown space) and turn that into a dog park. These are great places for people and dogs to socialize.

[Taeric]

That's a great idea about the brown space. There is a lot of federal grant money floating around for the evaluation and rehabilitation of these spaces. A good starting place to pursue this avenue would be too contact somone in the local planning and zoning department (or whatever it's called up your way) and ask them if they have any brownfields they're looking to redevelop.

[adb25]

thats a great idea, I didn't think about grants to redevelop brown space.
Thank you for the idea.

[MaryGrace]

Yeah. Maybe a section of the local playground could be for dogs in my town!