The City of Guelph is hoping a move to make dog parks more accessible will be a home run with residents. Dog owners can now let their canine companions run off-leash at dozens of unoccupied sports fields throughout the city, including Dovercliffe Park, Eramosa River Park and Riverside Park. The city first passed a bylaw in 2019 to find new purpose for underutilized space. “This bylaw gave authority to allow 41 sports fields to be used as leash free zones when no one was occupying the sports field,” Dustin Gronc, manager of corporate and community safety with the city, said. A local sports club believes the program has been beneficial. “It’s been great,” Dave Kelly, owner of Perpetual Motion Sports, said. “I haven’t seen any negative to it, to be honest. That people are outside enjoying the park space, which is wonderful, when we’re not using it. It just allows people using these beautiful parks all the time.” Dog owners are asked to be mindful of other users. “Dog owners must maintain control of their dogs at all times, clean up after them and if the sports field does become occupied, they’d have to remove their dog,” Gronc explained. He said there are consequences for people who defy the rules. “We always start with education, then we move to warning if needed and then we do lay charges if necessary.” Some dogs are not allowed to use the off-leash areas at any time. That includes female dogs in heat, dogs with an infectious disease or a history of biting or injuring other dogs or people, and dogs who are under a Dog Owners’ Liability Act to be muzzled or leashed. There are also some sports fields where dogs are not allowed at any time. To see the full list of participating parks, and the forbidden areas, visit the City of Guelph’s website.
