Thanks for everyone’s comments about enjoying Fiesta Island with their dogs. My advice to those of you who want to get involved is to connect up with FIDO as they will point you in the right direction and let you know how energy can best be put to use. You can email the group at: fidosd@gmail.com If you want to really want to make a difference, show up at the next Mission Bay Park meeting July 3 for details go to their website.
Reader Black Sabbath wrote:
“Most of the dog owners who I have observed ignore the leash laws in parks so to say they only have a few acres is a myth. The grassed leash free areas provided by the park department cost us the taxpayers plenty of money. Doyle Dog park has been reseeded at least 3 times. Grape Street park has also been reseeded. Another myth is that dogs must recreate on grassy surfaces. Apparently this is not so if the Fiesta Island group can use the natural surface successfully. No one ever gave the dogs owners public land forever. Their sense of entitlement (read Kate Sessions illegal off leash use) is annoying. If they want to have an off leash area with their rules and ammenities, then they need to buy the land and pay for it. The Nates Point dog group does raise money and contribute. More should follow their example.”
I am so glad that you brought up Nate’s Point! Just to let you know, my husband and I started that group and secured over 50 percent of the funding for the recent improvements ourselves. It has taken more than five years of working with the park, city planners, landscape architects, etc… to build a sidewalk, fence, drinking fountain and picnic table. So, you are talking with the “dog people” you just praised.
Dog owners do take a lot of pride in their parks and many of the dog parks are supplemented with private funds. Most dog owners are more than happy to donate on top of the tax dollars that they already pay. The catch is that the area has to be designated as a “off leash” to pique interest and get the dog community innovated.
Also, I felt I should respond to your comment about people ignoring leash laws. It’s true, people do walk their dogs off leash in areas that they shouldn’t.
However, that only accentuates the need for areas like Fiesta Island. If the current 90 acres are reduced it will only crowd the local neighborhood dog parks, pushing more and more people into areas that are not designated as off leash.
The city cannot ignore the hundreds of thousands of dogs that live in San Diego and their tax paying owners.
— PAULA LYNN